Delhi chief minister Arvind Kejriwal has drawn flak for extending “Vamana Jayanti” greetings on the occasion of Onam, siding with a Sangh parivar belief and also sharing the same image that the BJP’s Amit Shah had done four years ago.

While Malayalis overwhelmingly celebrate Onam as the mythological annual return of the Asura king Mahabali to his erstwhile kingdom, the RSS has often tried to turn this belief on its head by commemorating Vamana, the fifth avatar of Lord Vishnu who had banished Mahabali. Many see this as a Sangh parivar design to impose a “Brahminical version” of history (Vamana is a Brahmin and Mahabali an Asura), and an attempt to restore the “Brahminical order of inequality and oppression”.

On Saturday, Aam Aadmi Party leader Kejriwal, who has frequently been accused of mirroring the BJP after being reelected in February, tweeted in Hindi on the first day of Onam festivities: “Greetings to all of you on the anniversary of God Vamana, the fifth avatar of Lord Vishnu. May Lord Vishnu’s benevolence be upon you forever.”

Shah, then the BJP chief and now the Union home minister, had in 2016 tweeted on similar lines and shared the same image that Kejriwal has now tweeted: that of Vamana, wearing a sacred thread, banishing Mahabali by putting a foot on his head. Like in Shah’s case, Kejriwal’s tweet has angered Malayalis.

Since the 2016 snub, when both the Left and the Congress in Kerala had criticised the BJP and the RSS, and chief minister Pinarayi Vijayan had slammed Shah for “ridiculing Kerala, Keralites and the culture of Kerala”, top BJP leaders have refrained from using the Vamana phraseology in official Onam greetings.

Kejriwal, however, appears to have picked up the baton from the Sangh, whose official publications have stuck to the Bhagvata Purana’s account that Vamana was born on the eve of Onam, which falls on Monday. Poems of the Vaishnavite Tamil Alvars describe Vamana as the deity of the festival at least until the 11th century. However, Mahabali had taken precedence by the 16th century.

Kejriwal’s office did not respond to queries from this newspaper on the CM’s tweet.

Author Anita Nair tweeted: “About time I sent Mr Kejriwal a copy of my Magical Indian Myths where the myth of the Vamana apropos Mahabali and Onam is explained so even a 9-year-old child can understand it.”

She added: “I have no qualms about Kejriwal choosing to offer Vamana Jayanthi wishes but to use an image of Vamana pressing down Mahabali into the netherworld is a direct reference to Onam. And as you know Onam is about welcoming Mahabali not Vamana.”

Unlike in Shah’s case, Vijayan has not reacted to Kejriwal’s greeting choices. In 2019, AAP had replaced its Kerala convener C.R. Neelakandan, a veteran social activist, after he declared support for the Congress-led UDF in a few seats for the Lok Sabha polls, and clarified that it backed the CPM-helmed LDF.

Vijayan’s partymen, however, did not mirror his benevolence.

Subin Dennis, an economist at Delhi’s Tricontinental think-tank and a CPM member, wrote in flurry of tweets: “Kejriwal takes the Amit Shah road to extend ‘Vamana Jayanti’ greetings. In stark contrast, in Kerala we celebrate Onam, to commemorate the return of the just and righteous Asura king Mahabali, not to celebrate Vamana’s treachery.

“Onam commemorates the day when popular Asura king Mahabali returns once a year to visit his people. But Sanghis prefer Vamana Jayanti, celebrating the restoration of the Brahminical order of inequality & oppression. It is a difference of vision about the future of society itself.

“Now Kejriwal has joined the Sanghis to indicate what he prefers: the inequality of the order that was restored when Mahabali was subjugated by treachery, not the egalitarianism which Onam celebrates and seeks to build again.”

Dennis’ tweets were widely shared by the CPM’s Kerala ecosystem.

Congress MP Hibi Eden accused Kejriwal of being the BJP’s “B team”, which AAP has frequently been accused of after the party that rules Delhi failed to curb the communal riots in February that killed 53 people.

Eden tweeted: “All Malayalees deserve this... for the enthusiasm they showed to vote for AAP and Kejriwal.… Freebies come and go but culture, history, traditions can’t be distorted like this.… BJP and AAP do the same when it comes to this.… B team of BJP.”

Although AAP has no representation in Kerala’s elected institutions, Malayali pockets in Delhi are seen as party strongholds.