THANE: On the controversy surrounding the "shastra puja" of Rafale jets in Paris, Defence Minister Rajnath Singh said he was only acting according to his faith.
"I wrote 'Om' on the plane, broke a coconut (as per tradition). Om depicts never-ending Universe," he said while addressing a poll rally for BJP's Mira Bhayander nominee Narendra Mehta in Maharashtra's Thane district.
At a ceremony in France on Tuesday, Singh formally took the delivery of the first of the 36 long-awaited French-made aircraft acquired by the Indian Air Force.
"I acted as per my faith. Even other communities like the Christian, Muslim, Sikh etc worship with words like Amen, Omkar etc. Even when I was performing 'Shastra Puja', people from communities like Christians, Muslims, Sikhs, Buddhists were present at the event," Singh said.
In his speech, the BJP veteran also accused the Congress of practising "divide and rule" policy to pit one religion against another.
"But the BJP government does not want such feuds between communities and castes," he said, adding that no communal riots had taken place under the BJP rule since 2014 unlike the days when the Congress used to be in power.
He also praised Maharashtra Chief Minister Devendra Fadnavis for his performance.
"Unlike some other chief ministers of the past, Fadnavis never embroiled in any controversy. The CM plays the role of a 'Sevak' (servant of people)," Singh added.
The Congress has accused Singh of "drama" over performing "shastra puja".