Rahul Gandhi Kicks Up A Row By Praising ‘Tapasvis’, Running Down ‘Priests’

Seemingly overwhelmed by rigours of  Bharat Jodo Yatra Congress leader  Rahul Gandhi indulged in a bit of self-praise and succumbed to  describing India as “land of tapasvis” and not ‘poojaris’ and how  the Congress believes in ‘tapasya’, while the BJP was an organization of ‘pooja and pujaris’. Short of describing himself as a tapasvi, he went on to say how “BJP-RSS forced people to worship them” adding” India is a country of ‘tapasvis’ (ascetics) and not ‘pujaris’ (priests).”  Rahul’s statement naturally irked several priests. Ujjwal Pandit of Yuva Teerth Purohit Mahasabha alleged that Rahul had insulted India’s ancient cultural traditions in which priests have played a central role. It was clear that the Congress leader wore ‘janeu’ (holy thread) and tilak on his head for show, he alleged in a statement. Swami Dipankar noted that the Gandhi scion had described his yatra as his “mohabbat ki dukan” (place for love), but was now talking about “hate”. Should priests be then thrown into the sea, he asked.  At some places, including Prayagraj in Uttar Pradesh, priests carried out protests and burnt Rahul’s effigies. In the temple town of Deoghar in Jharkhand, priests demanded an apology from the Congress leader for insulting their tradition. RSS ideologue Ratan Sharda found it odd that Rahul Gandhi found his yatris to be tapasvis. He said foremost tapasvis that the nation has known are Swami Vivekananda and Mahatma Gandhi.