Launching a scathing attack at the Congress over its senior party leader and former governor Shivraj Patil’s remarks on the Bhagavad Gita, the BJP said that he is a symbol of the grand old party’s “perverse and disgusting mindset”.
Patil, the former Lok Sabha Speaker and Union minister, has come under sharp criticism by saying that the concept of jihad was not just in Islam but also in the Bhagavad Gita and in Christianity.
BJP MP Sudhanshu Trivedi slammed the Congress over Patil’s remarks and accused it of playing vote bank politics.
“What Shivraj Patil said is a symbol of their party’s perverse and disgusting mindset. Bal Gangadhar Tilak saw Karma Yog Shastra in Bhagavad Gita and Mahatma Gandhi saw Anasakti. But people of Rahul Gandhi’s Congress see Jihad in it. Their mind is filled with the pus of vote bank,” he said, ANI reported.
Trivedi also sought clarification from Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge and senior party leader Sonia Gandhi over Patil’s remarks.
“Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge or Sonia Gandhi should answer that what Shivraj Patil said is correct or what Mahatma Gandhi said is wrong?,” he said.
Shivraj Patil’s controversial remarks
Speaking at the launch of Congress veteran and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai’s biography, Patil stated that it is said there is a lot of discussion of jihad in the religion of Islam.
“It is not just in Quran, but in Mahabharata also, the part in Gita, Shri Krishna also talks of jihad to Arjun and this thing is not just in Quran or Gita but also in Christianity,” he claimed in his remarks in Hindi.
“If after explaining everything, people are not understanding, they are coming with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand,” the 87-year-old leader said.
Congress’ response
The Congress distanced itself from the Patil’s remarks and asserted the Bhagavad Gita was a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation.
“My senior colleague Shivraj Patil reportedly made some comments on Bhagavad Gita that’s unacceptable. Subsequently, he clarified. The Congress’s stand is clear. Bhagavad Gita is a key foundational pillar of Indian civilisation,” Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh said on Twitter.
