A Raja Stokes Controversy: The BJP lashed out at the opposition parties’ INDI bloc over reported remarks of DMK leader A Raja against Hinduism and Lord Ram on Tuesday, March 5. The BJP said that insulting India’s ethos publicly and humiliating Hindu gods has become the hallmark of INDI bloc's political agenda.

Addressing a press conference at the BJP headquarters here, senior party leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad noted that DMK MP Raja in his latest speech in Tamil has said “India is not a nation. Understand this well. India is never a nation. One nation means one language, one tradition, one culture. Then, only it is a nation. India is not a nation but a sub-continent”. Responding to the same, Prasad called it a “Maoist ideology”.

BJP Questions INDI's Silence 

The BJP leader demanded that the Congress and other INDIA bloc constituents to come out and say if they agree with the DMK leader’s remarks. “Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi, Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra), Mallikarjun Kharge, do you consider it (Raja’s remarks) right?” asked Prasad. “We vehemently condemn such remarks,” Prasad charged.

Defaming India and Hinduism is INDI's Political Agenda: BJP 

Defaming India’s identity and insulting Indian faith has become a habit and political agenda of INDIA ‘gathbandhan’, said Ravi Shankar Prasad during the press conference on Tuesday.  It is evident that insulting India’s ethos publicly, humiliating Hindu gods, and questioning the very idea of India has become the hallmark of the political agenda of the India gathbandhan, he said.

“Please do not insult Hindu sentiment in such a way, do not embarrass Hindu faith like this. We respect all faiths. This is the Indian ‘sanskar’ from Rig Veda which says that ‘truth is one, paths may be different'," said Prasad. 

Ravi Shankar Reminds DMK of SC Episode 

Ravi Shankar Prasad reminded that the Supreme Court had slammed Tamil Nadu minister Udhyanidhi Stalin for his remarks on Sanatan Dharma. “That’s the reason why the Supreme Court on Monday, while hearing Tamil Nadu Minister Udhayanidhi Stalin's plea for clubbing together all FIRs filed against him over his ‘eradicate Sanatan dharma’ remark, had noted that he takes undue liberty with the freedom of speech and then comes to the court seeking relief,” said Prasad. 

A bench of justices Sanjiv Khanna and Dipankar Datta told Stalin that being a minister, he should have been careful with his statements and mindful of the possible consequences they could have. 

(With PTI Inputs)