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Indian billionaire highlights VIP culture at Lalbaugcha Raja with video of ‘unequal treatment’
Harsh Goenka shared a video of devotees at the highly-crowded Lalbaugcha Raja pandal to question unequal treatment of VIPs and the common man.
The Wikipedia page for Lalbaugcha Raja declares that it is a “sarvajanik” or “public” Ganesha idol in Mumbai that draws close to 1.5 million devotees every day during the 10-day festival of Ganesh Chaturthi. While Lalbaugcha Raja is indeed sarvajanik in the sense that it is open to the public, recent videos have raised concerns about VIP culture at the mandal.
In one such video, a long line of devotees was filmed being shoved and manhandled by workers at the Lalbaugcha Raja Sarvajanik Ganeshotsav Mandal, while a VIP family leisurely took pictures in front of the iconic idol. The common devotees, who sometimes stand in line for up to 12 hours for a glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja, were pushed unceremoniously by security before they could so much as bow their head in front of the Ganpati idol.
In stark contrast, the VIP family was allowed to stand and take pictures without any rush. Meanwhile, another viral video showed dozens of devotees rushing inside the pandal when the gates opened for a few minutes.
“Unequal treatment”
Billionaire Harsh Goenka, chairman of RPG Group, shared the video of devotees rushing for a glimpse of Lalbaugcha Raja on the social media platform X to highlight the discrimination at play inside the pandal. He noted that the common man has to face large crowds and long wait times for a glimpse of the Ganpati idol.
“Ever wondered why people opt for VIP darshan at Lalbaugcha Raja? It’s because the common devotee often faces long waits and crowds, highlighting the unequal treatment. Isn’t faith supposed to be equal for all?” asked Harsh Goenka.
People in the comments section agreed with Goenka.
“Unfortunately haven’t taken darshan of Lalbaugcha Raja. I feel sorry for those devotees being pushed who stand in the queue for hours and hours and get a glimpse for a second whereas VIPs who break the queue get to stand there and take a selfie etc,” wrote X user Dinesh Joshi.
“It should be declared ‘VIP Only’ pandal, common people travel long distances and struggle a lot with their devotion to get this treatment and darshan for micro seconds,” another person opined.
