WATCH | "Lord Hanuman is a Muslim", says BJP leader offering bizarre logic

The political slugfest over Lord Hanuman's religion got a new twist when state Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) Member of Legislative Council (MLC) Bukkal Nawab on Thursday claimed that the deity was a Muslim. Speaking to ANI, Nawab claimed that Muslim names are "almost similar" to those of Lord Hanuman.

"Humaara maanna hai ki Hanumanji musalmaan thhay. Issliye musalmaanon mein naam rakha jaata hai Rehman, Ramzam, Farman, Zeeshan, Qurbaan. Saare naam kareeb kareeb unke naam se miltey hain. 

(I believe that Lord Hanuman was a Muslim. That is why the names of the people in Islam is almost similar to Lord Hanuman, whether it is Rehman, Ramzan, Farman, Zeeshan and Qurban. These names somewhat mathes with his name)," said Nawab.

He further claimed that these names were derived from Lord Hanuman; had he not been there these names would not have existed.

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Read: Legal Notice Sent To UP CM Yogi Adityanath For ‘calling Lord Hanuman A Dalit’

Earlier in November, during campaigning for recently concluded Assembly elections in Rajasthan, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath in a poll rally in Alwar had said that Lord Hanuman was a Dalit.

“Hanuman was a forest dweller, deprived and a Dalit. Bajrang Bali worked to connect all Indian communities together, from north to south and east to west”.

Rajasthan Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha president Suresh Mishra on November 28 sent a notice to Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath in which he had accused him of dragging Lord Hanuman’s caste for political gain during his election rally for the BJP in the state.

The notice read, “I am saddened that UP chief minister called Lord Hanuman deprived. His statement has hurt the religious sentiments of several devotees. Those who are deprived they get the strength to fight the odds. It is a sheer attempt to take political mileage in the election.”

(With inputs from agencies)