Bihar BJP chief sends Bhagavad Gita to Rahul Gandhi amid Hindutva row

Amid the continuing debate over Hinduism and Hindutva, which was trigged following the release of a book written by Congress leader Salman Khurshid, Bihar BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal on Sunday presented a copy of the ‘Bhagvan Gita’ to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi at a press conference in Patna

Amid the continuing debate over Hinduism and Hindutva, which was trigged following the release of a book written by Congress leader Salman Khurshid, Bihar BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal on Sunday presented a copy of the ‘Bhagvan Gita’ to Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi at a press conference in Patna. The epic will be dispatched to the Congress leader via post.

Bihar BJP president Dr Sanjay Jaiswal during a press conference at party office in Patna on Sunday. (Santosh Kumar/HT Photo)

Addressing the press conference, Jaiswal even called Rahul Gandhi “the most confused leader in the country”. “He should read and understand it to know about Hindutva and get rid of the habit of lying and distorting facts for false propaganda and decisive politics. Trying to differentiate between Hinduism and Hindutva is like differentiating between mother and motherhood or Diwali and Deepawali and he has shown his intent. Sometimes, it is necessary to give knowledge of truth to people resorting to habitual lying, especially the manner in which Rahul Gandhi has been attacking Hindutva. We know he is the most confused political leader of the country and, therefore, he could not have even an iota of knowledge about Hindutva despite visiting temples after temples for sheer politics,” Jaiswal said.

Jaiswal said that ‘Gita’ is an epic to understand religion and spiritualism, which remains relevant even today due to its teachings and guidance about the art of living. “It develops the ability to take right decisions and encourages to stand by truth. I am confident that should Rahul Gandhi read and comprehend it, he would have a change of heart to move away from the divisive politics based on distortion and deceit. His remarks on Hindutva, which is in line with Congress DNA, reflect his immaturity and lack of knowledge. He claims to have read Upanishad, but one doubts if he could comprehend even a sentence. He may have tried to read it in Italian,” he added.

Jaiswal said that the three big leaders attacking Hindus within 24 hours was a clear indication of the “wicked mindset” of the Congress and part of a larger design. “We knew it from the beginning that these poisonous statements against Hindus were coming on the order of the Gandhi family and Rahul Gandhi only proved our apprehensions right,” he further said.

Hitting back at Jaiswal, Congress MLC and AICC media panellist Premchandra Mishra said that the “highly knowledgeable Jaiswal” should first write to the Prime Minister. “People are suffering due to failed promises of Narendra Modi ji, with price rise and unemployment peaking, India is ranked 101st among 116 countries in global hunger index and farmers are protesting. He himself seems confused about Hindu and Hindutva. BJP has a habit of viewing everything from the point of view of political benefit and they are again at it unabashedly,” he said.