Yogi terms RaGa’s temple visits ‘sham’

Ahmedabad/Rajkot: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Aditya Nath Yogi on Saturday slammed Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi and termed his recent visits to various temples in Saurashtra and central Gujarat while campaigning for his party as 'dhong' (sham) and 'pakhand' (hypocrisy). He also said that Gandhi was 'disillusioned' as his allegations of failed Gujarat development model was 'far from the truth'.

Speaking at BJP's Gujarat Gaurav Yatra in Nakhatrana, Kutch, Yogi said, "Rahuji should be asked about his motive behind visiting temples in Gujarat as it was his own government which in 2005 told the Supreme Court that there was no evidence of existence of Lord Rama and Lord Krishna."

"Now, why is the Congress vice president offering prayers at Dwarkadhish temple when they do not believe in its existence. Ask Rahulji why this 'dhong' now," said Yogi speaking to reporters at Nakhatrana. He added that Gandhi's 'pakhand' and 'dhong' was not going to work for his party.

Gandhi had last month began his 2017 poll campaign for Gujarat assembly elections by offering prayers at Dwarkadhish temple. During his three-day roadshow, Gandhi had offered prayers at six other temples and slammed BJP government in the state over its development claims.

Yogi on a two-day visit to Gujarat from Friday held a road show in south Gujarat before flying to Nakhatrana in Kutch on Saturday. He began the second day of his visit to the state by offering prayers at Swaminaryan temple in Bhuj.

Interacting with media persons there, Yogi said 55 years of Congress rule had only led to development of terrorism, Naxalism and poverty.

"If the country is facing poverty, terrorism and Naxalism, then the Congress is to be held responsible for that. Congress and Rahul Gandhi have no right to discuss development. Even the Rajiv Gandhi Foundation has accepted the (genuineness of) development of Gujarat," he said. He also took a dig at Gandhi over the 'vikas gando thayo che' (development has gone mad) social media campaign that the Congress has been raising during its poll campaign.

"When Gujarat was facing one of the worst floods, Gandhi was in Italy. And when people came out of it, he comes to Gujarat to insult the people here and say 'vikas pagal ho gaya hai'. The madness is in the heads of those who do not want to see development," the UP CM said.

"The BJP talks about the entire society and the programmes that the BJP has launched under the leadership of respected Narendrabhai (Prime Minister Narendra Modi). The focus is on the farmers, villagers, women, youth and the poor," he said. When asked if playing the 'Hindu card' or development plank will work in the election scheduled to be held soon, Yogi said Hinduism is not a card, but a culture and the soul of this country.