“Fort Bend County Republican Party wishes a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to the followers of Hindu faith,” the top banner of the ad reads
Texas: Lord Ganesha is held with a lot of respect in Hindu religion. In India, the festival of Ganesh Chaturthi is celebrated with great enthusiasm, and we have often seen incidents where politicians woo voters in the name of religion. But now, even in the US, politicians have started to resort to religion for vote-bank politics. In the upcoming US midterm elections, the Republican Party used an image in the newspaper to impress the people of Texas Hindu community, with a picture of Lord Ganesha. On the occasion of Ganesh Chaturthi, local newspaper Time India Herald of Texas printed the photo of Lord Ganesha with the text: ‘Would you worship a donkey or elephant? It's your choice.'
“Fort Bend County Republican Party wishes a Happy Ganesh Chaturthi to the followers of Hindu faith,” the top banner of the ad reads.
Asking Hindu-Americans if they would rather vote for a donkey or an elephant by comparing Ganesha, a religious figure, to a political party is highly inappropriate.
The Fort Bend County Republican party must retract this ad. https://t.co/zHyqux9Soc pic.twitter.com/z1Us2oVQ5L
After this advertisement, the Hindu American Foundation issued the statement and said that it was provocative and insulting to use the image of Lord Ganesh. They said, "We appreciate the effort of reaching the Hindus on an important Hindu festival of Fort Bend County GOP. But in this advertisement, it is inciting to engage Hindu’s worship of Lord Ganesha with animal symbols of your political party”. The Texas Foundation told the local leaders to think twice before using religious photographs for their political advantage. After this episode, Fort Bend County Republican Party Chairman Jesse Jetton soon released an apology on the advertisement.
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