BJP Accuses Opposition of Targeting Sanatana Dharma for Vote-Bank Politics

New Delhi: The BJP on Tuesday accused the I.N.D.I.A. of having a hidden agenda to target Sanatana Dharma for its vote bank politics as party president J.P. Nadda led a fresh charge and claimed that attacking the ancient faith is part of a well-thought-out strategy of the Congress and its leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. The BJP seized on DMK leader and Tamil Nadu education minister K. Ponmudy's remarks that the INDIA bloc was forged as an "opposition to Sanatana ideology" to hit out at the Opposition.

Pointing at Mrs Gandhi’s "authority" in the grand old party, the BJP asked why the senior leader and members of the I.N.D.I.A. have been silent over the attack on the Sanatana Dharma by the Opposition bloc leaders.

"The Congress and the INDI Alliance should make their view clear and tell if the Constitution gives the right to make objectionable comments against any religion. Do INDI Alliance members not know the constitutional provisions?" Nadda said on X.

The alliance, the Congress and the Gandhis should answer as to why "hate against Sanatana Dharma is being sold in the name of mohabbat ki dukan," the BJP president said. This mega mall of hate is only for power; divide and rule, he alleged.

Dubbing the insult of Sanatana Dharma for vote-bank politics the "common minimum programme" of the I.N.D.I.A., the BJP dared the Opposition to try insulting any other religion.

"The cat is out of the bag... INDI Alliance has been formed to oppose and finish Sanatana Dharma. Their hidden agenda is to do votebank politics by opposing Sanatana Dharma... I ask the Congress and this alliance, do they have the right to criticise deities of some other faith? Do they have the courage? Can they do it? They stay silent on other religions but openly oppose Sanatana," said BJP leader and former Union minister Ravi Shankar Prasad while referring to the remarks of Ponmudy, who has claimed that the INDI Alliance was formed to "fight against the principles of Sanatana Dharma" and that the 26 parties in the alliance are "united in the fight against Sanatana Dharma, but we need political power for that".

Noting that Bihar minister and RJD leader Chandra Shekhar and Samajwadi Party's Swami Prasad Maura have repeatedly criticised Hindu holy books like Ramcharitmanas, Prasad said the leaderships of these parties have maintained silence.

Such silence is an indication of approval, Prasad said, making it clear that the BJP will go to people on the issue after the agenda has been set by the Opposition. "We will talk of vikas (development) as well as virasat," he said. India will not tolerate this insult to Sanatana, he said.

The more Mrs Gandhi maintains silence over the matter, the more it will be clear that opposing Sanatana Dharma is part of the I.N.D.I.A. 's common minimum programme, he alleged.

Accusing almost every party in the I.N.D.I.A. of insulting Sanatana Dharma, Prasad said Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge and his son had also attacked it.

"The 'ghamandia' alliance should know that neither the Muslim invaders nor the British could erase Sanatana despite ruling India for hundreds of years," he said.

"The BJP will urge this alliance to come out with a categorical resolution that we completely disassociate ourselves (from the DMK's criticism) and this is not our agenda," he said.

With the DMK linking Sanatana Dharma with the practice of caste discrimination among Hindus to justify its criticism, the BJP leader noted that temples dedicated to revered people from backward castes like Shabir, Kewat and Sant Ravidas have been built.

Why this "shameful denigration" of Sanatan, the former Union minister said, claiming the country will not tolerate the insult to it.