BJP-RSS 'fake Hindus', indulge in 'brokerage' of religion: Rahul Gandhi

Rahul Gandhi at the foundation day event of the All India Mahila Congress in New Delhi on Wednesday. Pic/ Pallav Paliwal

Calling the BJP-RSS people "fake Hindus", Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Wednesday alleged that they use religion for their benefit and indulge in its 'dalali (brokerage)'.

Addressing the foundation day of the All India Mahila Congress here, Gandhi said the ideology of the Congress is completely opposite of the BJP-Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and only one of the two ideologies can rule the country.

Asserting that Goddess Lakshmi stands for the power that helps one attain one's goals and Goddess Durga stands for the power that protects, the former Congress chief said while his party had strengthened these powers when in government, the ruling BJP dispensation have diminished these powers.

"Ye kis prakar ke Hindu hain? Ye jhoote Hindu hain. Ye Hindu dharm ka prayog karte hain, ye dharm ki dalali karte hain, magar ye Hindu nahin hain (What kind of Hindus are they? They are fake Hindus. They use Hindu religion, they indulge in brokerage of religion, but they are not Hindus," Gandhi said attacking the BJP and the RSS.

The former Congress chief alleged that Prime Minister Narendra Modi "shivers with fear" and on China's stern look says "no one has taken our land".

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"They (Chinese) took thousands of kilometers of land, but the Prime Minister of India says that no one took the land. ... Whole life is a lie, he has run away from the truth. There is no power," Gandhi said attacking the prime minister.

The BJP lashed out at Gandhi, accusing him of being "disconnected from the ground", after his "fake Hindus" remark and attack at Modi.

BJP national general secretary Arun Singh hit out at Gandhi saying that no one takes him seriously.

"Rahul Gandhi should not make these statements. He is totally disconnected from the ground. He has no information. That is the main problem," he told reporters.

Gandhi said, as a Congress worker, he understands that he can compromise with other ideologies but not with that of the BJP and the RSS.

He said it is important to understand the difference between the ideology of the Congress and Mahatma Gandhi, and that of V D Savarkar and Nathuram Godse.

"The BJP-RSS people say they are a Hindu party. In the last 100-200 years if anyone has understood the Hindu religion in the best way and made it his practise, it is Mahatma Gandhi. We believe in this and so do the BJP-RSS people. So, if Mahatma Gandhi understood the Hindu religion and spent his whole life understanding it, then why did the RSS ideology pump three bullets in his chest," the Congress leader said.

Why did the RSS ideology pump bullets in a person who is considered an example by the whole world -- from Nelson Mandela to Martin Luther King -- and is regarded as the best teacher of 'Ahimsa' or non-violence, which is the foundation of the Hindu religion, he said.

Referring to Goddess Lakshmi as a power that helps one attain one's goals and Goddess Durga as the power that protects, Gandhi rhetorically asked that when Prime Minister Modi announced demonetisation or bring the GST and the farm laws, were those powers strengthened. Mahila Congress workers responded by saying the powers were diminished.

He also asked whether these powers were boosted by the Congress when it brought in policies such as MNREGA and RTI, and 'One Person, One Vote', and the crowd shouted back that the powers were strengthened.

Later in a tweet in Hindi, Gandhi said, "Lakshmi's power -- employment, Durga's power -- fearlessness, Saraswati's power -- knowledge. The BJP is busy in snatching these powers from the people."

On the Mahila Congress Foundation Day it is "our resolve that we will fight to ensure that these powers reach the people", he said.

In his address at the event, Gandhi attacked the BJP, saying they call themselves a Hindu party and in the whole country they "attack Lakshmi and Durga".

"Wherever they go, they kill Lakshmi or Durga and then say we are Hindus," Gandhi alleged.

The former Congress chief also alleged that the organisation of the RSS crushes "women power", while the Congress' organisation gives it a platform.

"Narendra Modi and the RSS did not make a woman prime minister, the Congress did. So, for us be it a woman, man, Dalit, adivasi, he or she may be from Bengal, Haryana or Punjab, they are all one. We only see one thing whether the person gets scared or not, if he or she does not get scared, they are a Congressi, if they get scared then we have to make them into a Congressi," he said.

Gandhi alleged that the Modi government has taken the power of Goddess Durga and Goddess Lakshmi from the hands of farmers, labourers and the poor and has given it to three-four people.

"Today in India, there are 10-15 people who have the power of Durga and Lakshmi, they are Modi ji 's friends. Ask the poor, go to the houses of farmers, ask if they have money to celebrate Diwali, they will say they don't have it," he said.

The power of Goddess Durga that was there in the hands of the people and one could say anything and criticise Congress chief ministers and prime ministers has now been taken away, Gandhi said.

The Congress leader alleged that terms are dictated by the RSS-BJP to universities and he cannot even visit them.

"You have to tell the country that Narendra Modi has attacked the power that we call Lakshmi and the power that we call Durga," he told Mahila Congress workers and leaders.

"Don't fight by deploying hatred, hate is not our tool, love is our tool," the former Congress chief asserted.

"The day we show hatred, we would have gotten scared and would not be Congress persons," he added.

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