'BJP is original Hindutva party, Gujarat voters will reject its clone': Arun Jaitley dismisses Rahul Gandhi's temple visits

Surat: Senior BJP leader Arun Jaitley on Saturday dismissed Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi’s temple visits amid the Gujarat poll campaign, saying when the original Hindutva party was available, people would reject its “clone”. The Union Finance minister also launched an attack on the previous UPA government, which was led by Manmohan Singh. The former prime minister was also present in Surat on Saturday. [caption id=“attachment_4239155” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Arun Jaitley. PTI[/caption] “We (BJP) are linked to Hinduism, if people imitate us then what can we do? But the basic principle is, if the original is available, why would people go for a clone?” Jaitley said while replying to questions about Gandhi’s temple visits. He alleged that the Singh-led government which ruled for 10 years was the “most corrupt government”. “It was a leaderless government. It was said that the then prime minister is in office, but not in power. Policy paralysis was the order of the day,” the BJP leader said. “In 1980, Gujarat had seen that when politics of social polarisation was practised, the agenda of the state changed. But when the BJP government came to power, the state left the politics of social polarisation,” he said. “Gujarat paid a huge political cost in 1980s. The Congress is today attempting to bring back the same old politics. This social polarisation results in division on the basis of caste. It will be a policy diversion from development,” Jaitley said.