JAIPUR: Congress president Rahul Gandhi Saturday asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi what kind of Hindu he is as he "does not understand" the foundation of Hinduism, prompting a strong retort from senior BJP leaders.
"What is the essence of Hinduism? What does the Gita say? That knowledge is with everybody. Knowledge is all around you. Every living being has knowledge," he said at an interactive session in Udaipur in Rajasthan.
"Our prime minister says he is a Hindu, but he doesn't understand (the) foundation of Hinduism. What kind of a Hindu is he," the Congress chief went on to say.
Hitting back, BJP president Amit Shah said, "The Congress is now preaching us about Hinduism. They are giving us lessons of Gita."
External Affairs Minister Sushma Swaraj also reacted sharply saying she wishes the day won't come when people have to learn the meaning of Hinduism from Gandhi.
She said the Congress president himself and the party are confused about his religion and caste.
"The Congress claimed that Rahul Gandhi is a Hindu who wears a Brahminical thread, but I did not know he is so rich in knowledge that now he will teach us the meaning of Hinduism. I wish the day won't come when we have to learn meaning of being a Hindu from Rahul Gandhi," she told reporters here.
Keeping up the high voltage battle between the Congress and the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in Rajasthan ahead of the December 7 Assembly polls in the state, Rahul Gandhi on Saturday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi saying, “What kind of a Hindu is he?”
Gandhi was speaking at an event in Udaipur, where he said, “There is confusion in the PM’s mind. He is convinced that he knows better than the Army when it comes to Army matters, better than the Foreign Minister with regard to the foreign affairs ... because he has a false sense that he knows everything...” Rahul said.
Bringing up the topic of Hinduism, Rahul hit out at the PM saying he doesn’t know the essence of the religion. “What does the Gita say? That knowledge is with everybody, knowledge is all around you! Every living being has knowledge. Our PM says he is a Hindu but he doesn’t understand the foundation of
Hinduism. What kind of a Hindu is he,” Rahul questioned? Swaraj was quick to respond to Rahul’s attack. “A statement came that he [Rahul] was a ‘Janeudhaari’ Brahmin. But I did not know that the knowledge of the ‘Janeudhaari’ Brahmin increased so much... God forbid that day when we need to understand Hinduism from Rahul Gandhi,” she said while attending an event in Jaipur.
Bank NPAs
Rahul also criticised Modi on the rise of Non Performing Assets across the country’s banks and accused the government of waiving off the loans of big businessmen. He also attacked the demonetisation move alleging that it was a scam to break the small industries.