Don't need lessons on Hindutva from Rahul Gandhi: BJP

BJP on Saturday hit out at Rahul Gandhi, accusing him of “spreading hatred” against Hindus and running an “well planned scheme” to foment communal trouble and anarchy in the country.

Addressing a press conference here, BJP spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi also sought to link the communal violence in Amravati in Maharashtra to the “hatred-filled” remarks against Hindutva of Gandhi at an orientation programme for Congress workers at Sevagram Ashram near Wardha.

“Are you running a training programme for your party workers to insult Hindutva. Are you running a well-planned campaign to stoke communal discord and enmity,” Trivedi said, referring to the violence in Amravati.

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He also accused the Congress of spreading “fake news” about mosques being destroyed in Tripura, which was said to be the trigger for the violence in Amravati.

Trivedi recalled that Mumbai had witnessed violence in 2012 when the Congress was in power – both in Delhi and Maharashtra – on the basis of fake news.

The BJP leader claimed that India was a “partially Muslim nation” before Modi came to power in 2014 as tenets of Sharia law were part of the Constitution and were even given primacy over Supreme Court judgements.

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“We do not need lessons on Hindutva from Rahul Gandhi,” Trivedi said, adding that Chhatrapati Shivaji had established 'Hindavi Swaraj' in the same land of Maharashtra where the former Congress President had made some “absurd” statements.

Trivedi claimed that Gandhi, through his “misleading” statements on Hindutva, was trying to hold back the giant leap the country was set to take on the basis of self belief.

“Just as Ravana came in the disguise of a holy man to abduct Sita, some people are trying to prevent the rise of India as a prosperous nation,” he said.

Trivedi said leaders like Rahul Gandhi were unable to comprehend the concept of Hindutva and advised him to read the works of Congress stalwarts such as Mahatma Gandhi, Bal Gangadhar Tilak and Jawaharlal Nehru.

“Even Nehru had written that the word 'Hindu' has to be understood in the broader context of Indian identity and should not be seen narrowly,” the BJP leader said.

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