As the Congress Party's Bharat Jodo Yatra continues, Rahul Gandhi has found himself enveloped in another controversy.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday, 10 September, cited a video of a Christian priest's purported comments mentioning Hindu goddess Shakti during a conversation with Rahul Gandhi to allege that it shows the "anti-Hindu" face of the Opposition party, drawing a sharp reaction.
However, the Congress said that the BJP is used to repeatedly spreading mischief through its "hate factory" and alleged that the ruling party has turned more desperate ever since the successful launch of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra.'
BJP spokesperson Sambit Patra shared the video on his Twitter handle.
In the video shared by several BJP leaders among others, the priest identified as George Ponnaiah is purportedly heard telling Gandhi that Jesus Christ is the "real god. ...revealed as a human being. Not like Shakti..." He was responding to the Congress leader's query if Jesus is considered god or not.
Patra claimed the video has exposed the reality of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra.' It insults goddess Shakti ahead of the beginning of Navratra, he told reporters.
This is not the first time the Congress has been involved in such incidents as the party had earlier questioned the existence of Lord Ram, Patra alleged.
During elections, Gandhi pretends to go to temples but the "anti-Hindu" face comes to the fore after the polls are over, he alleged.
"Is this 'Bharat Jodo'? Denouncing one religion for the appeasement of the other. This Hindu hatred of the Congress in general and Rahul Gandhi, in particular, is no more a clandestine affair. Rahul wears it on his sleeves with pride! 'Bharat-Todo' indeed by Rahul Gandhi," Patra said.
BJP's 'Hate Factory': Congress
AICC general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said the BJP's "hate factory" is sharing tweets about Gandhi, which have no relation to the audio.
"An atrocious tweet from the BJP hate factory is doing the rounds. It bears no relation whatsoever to what is recorded in the audio. This is typical BJP mischief that has become more desperate after the successful launch of Bharat Jodo Yatra which is evoking such a huge response," Ramesh tweeted.
"People who were responsible for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi and the murders of people like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, MM Kalburgi, and Gauri Lankesh are raising questions! What a morbid joke! Such attempts to damage the spirit of Bharat Jodo Yatra will fail miserably," he said in another tweet.
Targeting the Congress, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla, said
"George Ponnaiah who met Rahul Gandhi says 'Jesus is the only God unlike Shakti (and other Gods)'. This man was arrested for his Hindu hatred earlier - he also said 'I wear shoes because impurities of Bharat Mata should not contaminate us'. Bharat Jodo with Bharat Todo icons."
The Opposition had "anti-Hindu DNA" which keeps reflecting itself, he alleged, referring to "saffron terror" remarks of the Congress when it was in power.
Countering Ramesh, Poonawalla said the Congress' "factory of hate" was witnessed in 1984 riots against the Sikhs when the then prime minister sought to allegedly justify it.
Rahul Gandhi Using Single-Bed AC Container in Congress Party's Bharat Jodo Yatra
Meanwhile, Rahul Gandhi is reportedly spending his nights in one of the 60 truck-mounted containers that are daily being moved from one place to another.
While Gandhi has one of the air-conditioned containers to himself, senior leaders of the party are residing in two-bedded containers. The other containers are being shared among the 230 party workers, with the other yatris staying in the six or 12-bedded ones.
Most of them have toilets attached, but not all of them have air conditioners.
The Congress Party has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) IT cell of spreading fake news about its facilities, with General Secretary Jairam Ramesh saying their yatra was not like the 1990 "Rath Yatra" – a Toyota Yatra or an Innova Yatra - but a "Padyatra."
"We are staying in the containers since yesterday. There are 60 containers in which about 230 people stay. Every day the containers will move to a new site mounted on trucks. Some are one-bed, some two-bed, some four-bed and some 12-bed containers," Ramesh said quoted as saying.
In this new Congress initiative, around 230 people, including 119 Bharat Yatris, will walk 3,570 km from Kanyakumari to Kashmir.
The yatra will pass through Thiruvananthapuram, Kochi, Nilambur, Mysuru, Bellary, Raichur, Vikarabad, Nanded, Jalgaon, Indore, Kota, Dausa, Alwar, Bulandshahr, Delhi, Ambala, Pathankot, Jammu, and end in Srinagar.
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