Congress's Rahul Gandhi ripped into the BJP today, censuring them over price rise, farmers' issue and crony capitalism. At a massive rally in Rajasthan's Jaipur, he also made a frontal attack on the BJP over Hindutva -- an ideology widely linked to the BJP's ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- the outline of which he drew last month in an internal session of the party.
"I am a Hindu. All these people are Hindus. They are Hindutva-vadis. Let me explain," he said in his opening remarks.
Then, in a pun on "Satyagraha" -- a term meaning a "search for truth" coined by Mahatma Gandhi -- he said: "Mahatma Gandhi searched for the truth, Nathuram Godse pumped three bullets into him. He was a Hindutva-vadi. A Hindu is interested in Satyagrah. Hinduta-vadis are only after power, they don't care about truth. A Hindutva-vadi is only after Sattagrah (search for power)".
"Who is a Hindu? Someone who respects every religion and is scared of nobody. Those in power are false Hindus... India is experiencing a Hindutva-vadi raj, not Hindu raj. We want to remove these Hindutva-vadis and bring in a Hindu raj," Mr Gandhi added in the rally, which was also attended by his mother, party chief Sonia Gandhi, and sister and party general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Last month, Mr Gandhi sought to differentiate Hinduism and Hindutva at an internal meet of the party.
"Is Hinduism about beating a Sikh, or a Muslim. Hindutva, of course, is. In which book is it written? I have not seen it. I have read the Upanishads. I have not read it," he said. "We say there is a difference between Hindutva and Hindu religion. It is a simple logic -- if you are a Hindu then why do you need Hindutva? Why do you need this new name?" he was quoted as saying by news agency Press Trust of India.
The BJP had responded saying Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have a "pathological hatred" of Hinduism.
"It is in the character of the Congress and the Gandhi family to attack Hinduism at every opportunity... What they say is not a coincidence but an experiment. And the headmaster of this experimental lab is Rahul Gandhi," the BJP's Sambit Patra was quoted as saying by PTI.
"There is a pathological hatred for Hinduism among Congress leaders... and they get traction for this from the Gandhi family," he had said.
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