New Delhi: Congress chief Rahul Gandhi pulled up party leader CP Joshi after a video surfaced in which he could be heard saying only Brahmins are qualified to speak about Hinduism as he questioned the credentials of Prime Minister Narendra Modi and other BJP leaders to talk about the religion.
Expressing his clear displeasure, Gandhi said Joshi’s statement was contrary to the ideology of the Congress party.
“Party leaders should not make any statement that can hurt any section of the society. While respecting the principles of Congress, the spirit of the workers, Joshiji must surely realise his mistake. He should apologise over the statement," Gandhi tweeted.
Soon after, Joshi expressed regret for his remarks. "Keeping Congress principles and sentiments of party workers in mind, I apologise if my remarks have hurt any section of the society," he tweeted.
His comment had come just days before Rajasthan goes to polls, where the Congress is looking to unseat BJP's Vasundhara Raje and it has given the BJP ammunition to paint the Congress as a casteist party.
Joshi, while addressing a poll gathering, had questioned how PM Narendra Modi and Uma Bharti can go on and on about Hinduism when they belong to different castes.
"If anyone is qualified to speak on religion it is the Pandits, the intellectuals and the brahmins. There is a weird trend in the country where people from different castes are speaking on Hinduism," he was heard saying in the clip tweeted by BJP’s Harsh Sanhavi.
“Uma Bharti, who belongs to the Lodi samaj, is talking about Hindu religion. Sadhvi ji also belongs to a different religion and is talking about Hindu religion. Narendra Modi too belongs to some other religion and talks about Hinduism. In the last 50 years, brahmins have lost their mind," he said.
The Congress leader used the term 'religion' while mentioning PM Modi. However, his intended reference is perhaps to "caste" as he starts his sentence asking the caste of the leaders. Subsequently he also refers to Uma Bharti's caste before using the word "religion"
Just a day before, CP Joshi claimed that only a Congress prime minister will have the will to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Speaking to News18 Rajasthan, Joshi even invoked a controversial chapter from Congress' past and said, "It was Rajiv Gandhi who opened the lock of the Babri Masjid premise and allowed religious rites inside the disputed structure. Only a Congress prime minister can get the temple built."
Joshi, a prominent Brahmin face of the Congress is contesting the Assembly polls from Nathdwara, flayed the BJP for picking up the issue only in poll season for electoral gains.
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