Rahul Gandhi's old pic at Babur Tomb emerges amid Ram Temple row; ‘Hindu-hatred,’ says BJP

Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma and other BJP leaders shared the 2005 photo of Rahul Gandhi at Afghanistan's Babur Tomb.

Updated on: Jan 11, 2024, 21:59:16 IST

By HT News Desk

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Amid an intense war of words over the Congress declining the invitation to attend the consecration ceremony of Ayodhya's Ram Temple on January 22, the BJP leaders on Thursday shared Rahul Gandhi's old photo at ‘Babur Tomb’ in Afghanistan and said three generations of the Gandhis visited that place and their hate is only reserved for the Hindus. Assam chief minister Himanta Biswa Sarma who earlier trained the gun at the Congress leadership and said that they missed a chance for the atonement of their sins shared the purported photo on X and wrote: “Three generations of the Gandhi family, including Rahul Gandhi in 2005, visited the Babar Tomb in Afghanistan. Why is there so much hatred for Ram Lala? Why do you hate Hindus so much?”

Assam CM Himanta Biswa Sarma shared Rahul Gandhi's 2005 photo at Afghanistan's Babur Tomb.

Read | ‘Anti-Sanatana’: BJP's poster on Opposition refusing to attend Ram Mandir event

The Congress on Wednesday clarified its stand on the Ayodhya event and said Sonia Gandhi, Mallikarjun Kharge and Adhir Ranjan Chowdhury -- the three leaders invited to the event -- will not attend it because it is 'clearly a BJP/RSS event' and the temple is not yet complete. Since the announcement, an acrimonious exchange has been going on between the BJP and the Congress with the BJP calling the Congress 'anti-Hindu'.

Rahul Gandhi's photo was the second ammunition of the BJP leaders who on Thursday invoked Jawaharlal Nehru over the row. They said Nehru did the same with the Somnath Temple and history will continue to judge Congress as an anti-Hindu party. "By accepting this invitation, they could have symbolically offered an apology to the Hindu Samaj," Himanta posted earlier.

The Congress reacted to the Nehru reference and said it was not a great revelation as Nehru was completely transparent and left behind written records in his correspondences.

The Congress, CPM, Trinamool Congress expressed their views against using the event for political gain and said religion is a private affair. Though Samajwadi Party leader Dimple Yadav earlier said she would like to attend the event, party chief Akhilesh Yadav said religion can not be a part of politics.

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