CM Yogi Adityanath: It is a victory for the BJP that Rahul Gandhi is now a janeu-dhari Hindu

Taking a dig at Congress chief, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said on Tuesday that it was a victory for the BJP that Rahul Gandhi was now a 'janeu-dhari Hindu' (the one who wears Brahminical thread).

"It is a victory for us that the very same Rahul Gandhi whose ancestors used to say that they are 'accidental Hindus', today says that he is a ' janeu-dhari Hindu'," he said in Tripura's Sabroom.

On Monday, Rahul had defended his visits to temples and religious places, asserting that he would continue it.

"I like going to temples, wherever I get a religious place I go there. I feel good and feel happy and I will continue (to go)," he had told reporters in poll-bound Karnataka.

During his current tour to north Karnataka, Rahul has visited Goddess Huligamma temple, a famous shrine in the region, and Gavi Siddheshwara Mutt, a mutt of the majority Lingayat community.

He also visited a Dargah in Raichur on Monday. Earlier, in November 2017, the Congress had claimed that Rahul was a 'janeu-dhari Hindu'.

The Congress' claim had come after a row had erupted over his 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, Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala had said, "Rahul Gandhi is janeu-dhari Hindu."

The controversy had started when Congress party's media coordinator Manoj Tyagi had entered names of Rahul and Congress MP Ahmed Patel in the special register for non-Hindus visiting the temple.

Meanwhile, questioning Rahul's temple visits ahead of the coming Karnataka Assembly polls, Union Minister and Karnataka election in charge Prakash Javadekar said on Monday that Congress was earlier "pseudo-secular" but are now "pseudo-Hinduism."

"They are changing brands. They were earlier pseudo-secularists, now they are pseudo-Hinduism. People understand which is an election gimmick and which is true devotion," he said.

Javadekar had claimed that Rahul did not go to temples in Delhi when he was elected Congress president, which was the biggest day in his life.

"He goes to temples in Gujarat and Karnataka because there is an election. So it is a vote gimmick. But people are not fools. In our country, illiterate intelligence is very powerful. Robust common sense works and people understand who is a real devotee and who is an election devotee," he had said