Smriti Irani is campaigning for the BJP in Karnataka, where voting is scheduled on May 10
Union Minister Smriti Irani has called the Congress in Karnataka a "Hindu hater" party after it announced it will ban the rightwing group Bajrang Dal and others like the Popular Front of India (PFI) if it comes to power in the southern state, where the people will vote in the assembly election on May 10.
Ms Irani made it clear the BJP will bring down the hammer on any rival and not wait for the attack to come, alluding to the Congress's threat to ban the Bajrang Dal.
"The Congress is a Hindu hater. Their manifesto projects that clearly. The Congress equates a Hindu organisation with a terrorist organisation. It tells you what religious and socio-political beliefs they hold," Ms Irani, the Women and Child Development and Minority Affairs Minister, told NDTV today.
The Congress's announcement that it would ban the Bajrang Dal and the PFI has sparked a big controversy as the PFI has been banned by many states and faces allegations of terrorism.
"The Congress will go to the Election Commission just because somebody chanted Jai Bajrang Bali? Will the Congress prostate before a Hindu God and beg for forgiveness? Was their manifesto a lie?" Ms Irani said, adding the Congress's intention to ban the Bajrang Dal and at the same time complaining against those who shout "Jai Bajrang Bali" shows its confused nature.
On whether the BJP finds it acceptable to connect the Bajrang Dal with Bajrang Bali, or Lord Hanuman, Ms Irani said they cannot wait for Congress leaders and workers to attack the BJP, and defending in a pre-emptive way is a constitutional right. Prime Minister Narendra Modi had called the Congress's proposed ban on Bajrang Dal an attempt to arrest devotees of Lord Hanuman. The Congress, in response, alleged PM Modi has insulted Lord Hanuman by equating it with the Bajrang Dal.
She expressed confidence the BJP will comfortably win in Karnataka.
"I am not an astrologer, but I can assure you that the BJP will form the government. If not, do you think Congress leaders who have been humiliating Hindu Gods would prostrate before them now?" Ms Irani told NDTV.
BJP leader KS Eshwarappa yesterday burnt a copy of the Congress's election manifesto.