'Unequal Treatment': Harsh Goenka Shares Clip of Discriminatory Behavior at Lalbaugcha Raja

Mumbai: As the country celebrates Ganesh Chaturthi with full zeal and enthusiasm, a video from the iconic Lalbaugcha Raja has emerged. The Lalbaugcha Raja Ganesh idol in Mumbai is visited by millions of people during the festival.

The clip, which has now gone viral, captures a long line of devotees being pushed and manhandled by workers at the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal. Meanwhile, a VIP family is seen taking pictures in front of the idol without any rush.

Devotees without a VIP pass waited in line for 12 hours for a glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja. However, they were pushed by security even before they could bow their heads to pray.

Another viral video showed dozens of devotees storming inside the pandal when the gates opened for a few minutes.

Chairman of RPG Group and billionaire Harsh Goenka posted the video of devotees rushing for a glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja on the social media platform X to highlight the discrimination inside the pandal. He noted that the common man faces large crowds and long wait times for a glimpse of the Ganpati idol.

"Why do they allow VIP darshan at Lalbaugcha Raja? The common devotee has to wait for long hours, surrounded by so many people, which shows the inequality in the treatment. Isn’t faith equal for everyone?" he questioned.

Several internet users agreed with the points raised by the businessman, as his post garnered over 217.1K views.

A user commented, "Unfortunately, I haven’t had darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja. I feel sorry for those devotees being pushed, standing in the queue for hours and hours to get a glimpse for a second, whereas VIPs who break the queue get to stand there and take selfies, etc. God definitely doesn’t like this."

"We are ourselves responsible for this. This is ridiculous. I still believe you get more peace of mind if you pray at home," another person wrote.

"Abolish VIP culture! Let them enjoy a comfortable and relaxed darshan from the luxury of their homes. It’s disheartening that something as pure as faith is being divided by privilege. The essence of devotion is equality, not hierarchy," a third person opined.

"In most places — not just temples — be it stadiums, colleges, voting lines, or conferences, there are common people, VIPs, VVIPs, VVVIPs, and so on. Unfortunately, everybody wants exclusivity! But no one wants others to have exclusivity that they don’t have. And so the cycle goes," a fourth person remarked.