Rajasthan polls: Rahul slams Modi at Udaipur rally, says, 'PM is Hindu but doesn't understand foundation of Hinduism'

Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday launched a fresh attack against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, and questioned his knowledge about Hinduism. At a public meeting with business professionals in Rajasthan’s Udaipur, Rahul claimed that Modi does not understand the “foundation of Hinduism”.

ANI quoted Rahul as saying: “What is the essence of Hinduism? What does the Gita say? That knowledge is with everybody, knowledge is all around you. Every living being has knowledge. Our prime minister says he is a Hindu but he doesn’t understand the foundation of Hinduism. What kind of a Hindu is he?”

The Congress chief, who is scheduled to participate in public meetings in Bhilwara, Chittorgarh and Hanumangarh on Saturday, also accused the prime minister of turning “military asset” into “political assets” to win elections in Uttar Pradesh.

“Modi actually reached into the army’s domain and shaped their surgical strike, he turned their surgical strike into a political asset when it actually was a military decision,” he said.

“He is convinced he knows what needs to be done in the army better than them, knows what needs to be done in foreign ministry better than the foreign minister, and also knows what needs to be done in agriculture better than the agriculture minister, all because he thinks that all knowledge comes from his brain,” ANI quoted him as saying.

The Congress chief also slammed the prime minister over the Centre’s surgical strikes on terror launch pads in Pakistan-occupied Kashmir in 2016.

“Do you know, that like Narendra Modi’s surgical strike, Manmohan Singh ji did that three times? When the army came to Singh and said we need to retaliate against Pakistan for what they’ve done, they also said they (army) wanted it to be secret,” Rahul said.

His comments have garnered criticism from the BJP’s national information technology chief, Amit Malviya. Referring to a personal attack on the prime minister by Congress leader CP Joshi , Malviya tweeted:

“Rahul Gandhi picks up from where CP Joshi left. Questions PM’s Hinduism implying he is someone from lower caste and unworthy of holding the high constitutional office or even commenting on Hinduism! It also establishes that all personal attacks on PM are sanctioned by Rahul.”

Gandhi’s comments, however, didn’t imply that PM Modi is from lower caste.

BJP president Amit Shah, who is also campaigning in the poll-bound state, also reacted to Rahul’s statements. According to ANI , Shah said at a rally in Phalodi: “I was coming from Mangalore when I saw on TV that Rahul baba was saying that Congress will form a government in Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh. As soon as I heard it, I saw if it is day or night. No one is prohibited to dream, but do we dream in daylight?”

Shah will also address rallies in Rajasthan’s Balotra, Baitu, and Barmer today.