New Delhi: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Thursday played down victories scored by Congress in three major states in the Hindi heartland — Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh — stating that the party had achieved electoral success through deceit.

“Congress won through lies and deceit. Their lies will start unravelling soon, and that will make our future battles even easier,” Adityanath, who had campaigned extensively for the legislative assembly elections in the three states, told media.

He said Congress played “dirty politics” by making false promises to farmers and fake claims to the middle class urban population.

Congress president Rahul Gandhi had promised to waive off farmers’ loan within ten days after coming to power in Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh. However, after victory on Wednesday, Gandhi said that “loan waiver” was not the solution for farmers’ distress.

Further, Adityanath said victories and defeats were part of the democratic process and one should accept them with humility.

“Indeed victories and defeats are part and parcel of the democratic and electoral process but we never boast of our victories while blaming our defeats on electronic voting machines (EVMs), unlike our rivals who practice double standards. When they win, they immediately start worshipping EVMs and when they lose, they hold the voting machines responsible for that,” he said.

Adityanath denied his reported comment that Hindu deity Lord Hanuman belonged to Dalit (lower) caste.

“I did not say anything about Hanuman ji’s caste. I only said that Lord Hanuman resides in spirituality, and spirituality exists in people of all caste,” he said.

During a poll rally in Rajasthan’s Alwar district, the saffron-wearing UP CM had said, “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.”

Right wing group ‘Rajasthan Sarv Brahmin Mahasabha’ sent a legal notice to Adityanath accusing him of playing on Hanuman’s caste for votes.

Congress also urged the Election Commission (EC) to take action against him. In its complaint to EC, Congress accused Adityanath of posing a threat to communal harmony in Rajasthan.

Later, when asked to respond to Adityanath’s controversial comment, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Amit Shah said he would not like to comment on whether Hanuman was a Dalit or an ‘adivasi’ (tribal).

Samajwadi Party (SP) chief and former UP CM Akhilesh Yadav also last week took a dig at Adityanath by asking him to “reveal” the caste of other deities so that he could pray to the deity belonging to his caste.