New Delhi, Sep 8 (IANS): In a surprising move, devotional singer Kanhaiya Mittal on Sunday announced that he will join Congress to spread the Sanatana Dharma.

“It is wrong that the BJP denied me the ticket from Panchkula and that is why I am joining Congress. I hold no grudges against the BJP. I believe that the Sanatana Dharma can be spread from every party and not only from one party,” Mittal said in a video message posted on X.

He added that had it been for the BJP's ticket, he would have talked to people and got the ticket from Panchkula. “I am friends with everyone. I have never asked anyone to vote for the BJP. I have always maintained to vote for the people who talk of Sanatana Dharma and Ram Mandir,” the singer said.

He said that ‘tapasya’ (a spiritual discipline that involves deep meditation) can be done in the Himalayas as well as on the roads and one does need a particular party to do ‘tapasya’.

“I was never with the BJP. Yes, they used to call me to their programmes to sing the ‘Jo Ram Ko Laye Hain’ song. If you listen to the song there is no mention of the BJP. It was the Maharaj Guruji Yogi Andityanth who used to call us to the BJP programmes. He will always remain our guru,” the singer concluded.

Kanhiya Mittal’s devotional song ‘Jo Ram Ko Laye Hain Hum Unko Layenge’ was an instant hit and became famous during the day leading up to the inauguration of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

His other songs are ‘Ladla Khatu Wale Ka’; ‘Khatu Wala Shyam Dhani Mera Yaar Hai’; ‘Reegus Ke Mod Pe’; ‘Itihaas Bana Dunga’; ‘Haara Hun Baba Par Tujhpe Bharosa Hai’; and ‘Saware Teri Zarurat Hai’.

Kanhiya Mittal was born on September 21, 1990, in Chandigarh and was interested in singing devotional songs from his early childhood days.