BJP, RSS have nothing to do with Hinduism, say Rahul Gandhi

Paris: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Sunday said that the BJP and RSS have nothing to do with Hinduism and they will do anything to get power.

“I have read the Gita. I have read the number of Upanishads and I have read many Hindu books. There is nothing Hindu about what the BJP does. There is absolutely nothing,” he said in response to a question during his interaction with the students and faculty at Sciences PO University in Paris, France.

Gandhi, who represents the Wayanad parliamentary constituency from Kerala, said, “I have not read anywhere in any Hindu book, heard from any learned Hindu person that you should terrorise or harm people who are weaker than you.

“The BJP and RSS have nothing to do with Hinduism. They are out to get power at any cost and they will do anything to get power.”

“What the BJP and RSS are trying to do, I think it needs to be countered. It requires a political imagination. It is very important that it is done. The BJP and the RSS is trying to stop the expression and participation of lower castes, other backwards OBCs, tribals and minority communities. For me, in India where a Dalit or a Muslim, or anybody is being mistreated or attacked, is not the India I want.”

Taking a swipe at the ruling dispensation, Gandhi said, "I don't think the type of political imagination that is required is currently there. We need to reconstruct the political imagination that will solve the problem."

The MP said for him this is the central problem in India which is bigger than any other problem.

"The word Hindu nationalists, this is a wrong word, they are not Hindu nationalists, they have nothing to do with Hinduism," he said.

Rahul Gandhi on Sunday reached the Netherlands. He will hold an interactive session at the Leiden University.