Gopal Krishna Agarwal stood by his statement on Thursday. (File)
A BJP national spokesperson doubled down on his comment likening an author to a dog as his tweet triggered a controversy online on Thursday, saying he was a "proud Hindu". Gopal Krishna Agarwal had targeted Shunali Khullar Shroff on Twitter two days ago after she took a dig at a religious leader in Gujarat for saying menstruating women who cook food for their husbands will be reborn as dogs.
"Here is a picture of two fallen women who became she-dogs because they cooked for their husbands while on their period in their last life. You can tell they're sorry from their body language," Ms Shroff had tweeted. Mr Agarwal responded, "Which one you identify with your good self ....!!"
The BJP leader's tweet drew widespread condemnation. Mr Agarwal is the economic affairs spokesperson of the BJP.
Standing by his statement, Mr Agarwal responded to actress Swara Bhasker, saying he was only responding to an "absurd claim".
At the centre of the controversy is a sermon delivered by Swami Krushnaswarup Dasji of Swaminarayan Temple in Bhuj in Gujarat. The swami belongs to "Nar-Narayan Devgadi" of Swami Narayan Sect.
"Menstruating women who cook food for their husbands will take birth as dogs in their next life while men consuming food prepared by women having periods will reborn as bullocks, as per religious texts," he had said.
The religious leader is associated with the temple which runs a college in Bhuj whose principal and female staff had allegedly forced more than 60 girls to remove their underwear last week to check if they were menstruating for "breaking a hostel rule that girls having their periods are not supposed to take meal with other inmates".
The principal, the hostel rector and the peon of Shree Sahajanand Girls Institute (SSGI) were arrested on Monday for the alleged incident which occurred on February 11.