Bhopal: The former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath had no idea it was coming when he stood over a huge cake with a knife in his hand.
The congress leader who turns 76 on Thursday was surrounded by his party workers to celebrate his birthday in advance at his house in Chhindwara district on Tuesday.
The cake that landed him in controversy was a temple-shaped multi-layered one with a saffron flag and an image of lord Hanuman on top.
As the video went viral of him cutting the cake, the BJP was quick to jump at it accusing Kamal Nath of hurting religious sentiments.
Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister and senior BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan berated Kamal Nath for cutting the cake with several religious symbols on it, adding that it amounted to insulting Sanatan Dharma and its followers.
Kamal Nath and his party, according to Chouhan, had nothing to do with God as they are false devotees and Kamal Nath represented the party that opposed construction of Ram Temple. Kamal Nath turned into a Hanuman Bhakt after facing electoral damage from his party's stand, he said.
"Can anyone imagine a birthday cake bearing the image of Lord Hanuman and also cutting the same cake? This amounts to insult to Sanatan Dharma and its followers," he was quoted by NDTV as saying.