Congress leader Rahul Gandhi  launched a blistering attack on the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and its ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and questioned the kind of Hinduism they were propagating.

He also admitted that Congress’ ideology has been overshadowed by the “hateful” ideology of BJP and RSS.

While speaking at the launch of Congress’ digital campaign ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ via video conferencing, Rahul Gandhi said, “Today, whether we like it or not, the hateful ideology of RSS and BJP has overshadowed the loving, affectionate and nationalistic ideology of Congress Party, we have to accept this.”

Congress’ ideology is alive, vibrant but it has been overshadowed, he iterated.

The former Congress chief claimed, “Our ideology has been overshadowed because we have not propagated it among our own people aggressively.”

Further training guns at the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party, the Congress MP questioned, “What is the difference between Hinduism and Hindutva, can they be the same thing? If they are the same thing, why don’t they have the same name?”

“They are obviously different things. Is Hinduism about beating a Sikh or a Muslim? Hindutva of course is,” he added.

Rahul Gandhi’s comments have come on the heels of the controversy stoked by senior Congress leader Salman who compared a “robust version” of Hindutva to the jihadist Islam of terror groups such as the ISIS and Boko Haram, in his book prompting the BJP to accuse the Congress of weaving a “web like a spider against Hindus”.