Rahul Gandhi asks what kind of Hindu is Modi, BJP bristles

New Delhi: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday stirred a controversy by wading into the BJP’s ideological turf and questioning Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s understanding of Hinduism, prompting strong and sarcastic retorts from senior BJP leaders. He also accused Prime Minister Modi of shaping the Army’s 2016 surgical strike across the Line of Control (LoC) into a “political asset”.

Addressing a gathering in poll-bound Rajasthan, Mr Gandhi asked what kind of Hindu was Prime Minister Narendra Modi who “did not understand” the foundation of Hinduism.

“What is the essence of Hinduism? What does the Gita say? That knowledge is with everybody... Knowledge is all around you. Every living being has knowledge. Our Prime Minister says he is a Hindu, but he doesn’t understand (the) foundation of Hinduism. What kind of a Hindu is he?” Mr Gandhi asked.

“PM is convinced he knows better than Army what needs to be done in Army’s area, better than foreign minister what needs to be done in the foreign ministry, better than agriculture minister what needs to be done in agriculture because he has a sense that all knowledge comes from his brain,” he added.

Mr Gandhi encroaching into the BJP’s Hindutva territory obviously did not go down well with the ruling party.

Hitting back, BJP president Amit Shah said, “The Congress is now preaching us about Hinduism... They are giving us lessons of Gita.”

“The knowledge of the Janeudhari (sacred thread-wearing) Brahmin has increased so much that now we have to learn from him what it means to be a Hindu. I pray to God that the day never comes when we have learn from Rahul Gandhi what it means to be a Hindu,” foreign minister Sushma Swaraj said in Jaipur.

With voting in Rajasthan scheduled for Dec. 7, gloves are off and the election campaign has turned into high-pitched mud-slinging where accusations and counter accusations continue unabated.

Referring to the surgical strikes on terror pads across the LoC on September 29, 2016, Mr Gandhi said, “Like during the Narendra Modi government, surgical strike was conducted thrice during Manmohan Singh government. Are you aware of it? Modi actually reached into the Army’s domain and shaped surgical strike into a political asset.” The Congress president further charged that the surgical strike was made public when the BJP was fighting elections in Uttar Pradesh.

Voting for Uttar Pradesh Assembly took place from 11 February to 8 March, 2017, in seven phases.

Mr Shah reacted to the charge sharply, saying that Mr Gandhi was insulting slain Army soldiers by claiming that the 2016 surgical strike across the LoC was conducted to win the Uttar Pradesh Assembly elections. “Prime Minister Narendra Modi took revenge for Army martyrs. Rahul Gandhi is saying that surgical strike was conducted to win Uttar Pradesh election. You insult the martyrs of the country,” he said and added that today Army jawans have developed a sense of pride because their government is standing behind them.

Mr Gandhi also claimed that non-performing assets (NPA) of banks, which were Rs 2 lakh crore during UPA rule, rose to Rs 12 lakh crore during the BJP government at the Centre.

“The government waived loans of 15 to 20 industrialists. Banking system is concentrated only for them. NPA is not of micro, small & medium enterprises, traders, doctors or lawyers,” he said.

Hitting back, Mr Shah compared the Congress with an automated teller machine (ATM), saying that it was a machine of “lies”. “The Congress is an ATM of lies, whereas the BJP is an ATM of development,” he said.