The Congress party on Wednesday claimed party vice-president Rahul Gandhi is a janeu-dhari (the one who wears Brahminical thread) Hindu.
The Congress' claim came after a row erupted over Rahul's visit to Somnath Temple in Gujarat wherein his name was allegedly listed as a non-Hindu visitor in the visitor-book.
Addressing a press conference here, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said, "Rahul Gandhi is janeu-dhari Hindu."
The controversy started when Congress party's media coordinator Manoj Tyagi entered names of Rahul Gandhi and Congress MP Ahmed Patel in the special register for non-Hindus visiting the temple.
The image of Rahul's entry as a non-Hindu started circulating
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was quick to grab this political opportunity at the time of assembly elections in Gujarat.
BJP's Amit Malviya's said Rahul Gandhi had finally come clean on his religion.
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"If he isn't a Hindu by faith, let alone a practicing one, then why has he been fooling people with these temple visits?" he asked.
The Congress also issued clarification on Twitter.
"Clarification: There is only one visitor's book at Somnath Temple that was signed by Congress VP Rahul Gandhi. Any other image being circulated is fabricated. Desperate times call for desperate measures?" tweeted the Congress.
The Congress vice president has been addressing election rallies in the state and launching scathing attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi led National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government over demonetisation and the Goods and Services Tax (GST).
On November 8, 2016, Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced to demonetise 500- and 1000-rupee banknotes with an aim to weaken the black money or shadow economy in the country.
On its first anniversary, the Congress and other opposition parties observed 'black-day' on its first anniversary.
The GST, which was launched on July 1, is an indirect tax and is applicable throughout India. It replaced multiple cascading taxes levied by the central and state governments.
Rahul has been terming the GST as Gabbar Singh Tax. Late Amjad Khan played the role of Gabbar Singh, a ruthless dacoit, in 1975 blockbuster Hindi film 'Sholay'. Rahul says like Gabbar Singh, Modi government is stealing money from poor and downtrodden.
Rahul Gandhi is eyeing to dethrone the ruling BJP in Gujarat. The last Congress government in Gujarat was led by Chhabildas Mehta from February 17, 1994 to March 13, 1995.
Gujarat has a total number of 182 assembly seats and the polling will be held in two phases. Voting in 89 constituencies of Saurashtra and South Gujarat region will be held in the first phase while the remaining 93 constituencies in central and northern regions will be held in the second phase. The votes will be counted on December 18.
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