Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has once again slammed Congress president Rahul Gandhi claiming that his posture while offering prayers at Gujarat's Somnath temple in 2017 resembled of a person offering namaz.
Yogi Adityanath said that this incident has exposed his lack of belief in Hinduism. "It's the people of Gujarat who exposed Rahul Gandhi. He went to Somnath temple and sat there as if offering namaz. Temple priest had to scold him that this is a temple, sit cross-legged," Adityanath said at a rally in Ahmedabad on Tuesday, reported ANI.
Rahul Gandhi had drawn severe backlash for the Somnath temple incident as his name was listed as a non-Hindu visitor in the temple log book by party's media coordinator Manoj Tyagi.
"Nakal mein bhi akal chahiye (one also needs brains to imitate)," said Adityanath, adding the "new generation leaders" of the Congress visits temples only during elections.
This political opportunity to backlash on Congress was quickly grabbed by the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) who had then made it a big issue after the Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said that Rahul Gandhi is a "janeu dhari Brahmin" (a Brahmin wearing a sacred thread).
He also alleged that Rahul Gandhi had told the US ambassador that people of India are a bigger threat to the country than the militant organisation Jaish-e-Mohammed (JeM). He also pointed out the Ishrat Jahan Raza fake encounter case, in which 4 people including a 19-year-old Ishrat was encountered by the Ahmedabad Police Crime Branch and Subsidiary Intelligence Bureau (SIB) of Ahmedabad over their alleged involvement on plotting the murder of the former Gujarat CM and now Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
"What is your relation with Ishrat Jahan, a terrorist? When Rahul Gandhi met the US ambassador, he told him that the people of India, and not Jaish-e-Mohammad, are a bigger threat to our country," alleged Adityanath, reports PTI.
Yogi asked With the Lok Sabha elections nearing, The UP CM has taken the right opportunity to attack the Congress party by attacking the party president of his religious beliefs.
Yogi also took a dig at the Congress party's new trump card Priyank Gandhi Vadra, who is also campaigning in UP for the upcoming polls. She had conducted boat rides named 'Ganga yatra' from Prayagraj to Varanasi in several ghats of Ganga, visiting temples and addressing the public.
Yogi Adityanath while addressing a public rally in Gujarat on Tuesday said that "24 crore devotees had come to the Kumbh Mela. When Congress got to know that there was such a large turnout, their new generation (Priyanka Gandhi) dropped in too. They used to say Ganga is not clean, but when they saw people consuming its water, they did the same."
The UP CM took a dig at the Congress leaders saying that they go to temples only during elections and do not have time to visit holy sites if elections are not around.
The union minister for water resources Nitin Gadkari had also criticised Priyanka earlier, saying that she could take a boat ride in the river because he had created a waterway on Ganga.
(with agency inputs)
