Uttar Pradesh Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma countered Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on her remarks against Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Monday and accused her of denigrating Hinduism.
Addressing a Press conference barely two hours after the Congress general secretary made certain remarks against Adityanath, before returning to New Delhi after winding up a four-day visit to the State capital, Sharma said, “Priyanka Gandhi stands with those who indulged in (anti-CAA) violence.” Priyanka hit out at Chief Minister on Monday, saying there was no place for violence or “revenge” in the country.
In a jibe at Adityanath days after he said those who damaged public property during protests against the Citizenship Amendment Act (CAA) and the ensuing violence would be made to pay, the Congress general secretary said saffron denotes Hinduism, a religion that does not advocate violence or “revenge”.
Hitting back at Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi, Sharma said the clash of religions should not be started for the sake of politics.
“The Congress general secretary has accused the saffron along with the Chief Minister,” Sharma alleged. “Yogi ji ne dharam ko dhaaran kiya hai (Yogiji has imbibed a religion). The Hindu religion never teaches to do any harm to anyone. Hindu religion does not speak about insulting any other religion. Hindu religion is very huge and you are saying that a person (imbibing Hindu religion) is doing such a thing,” he said.
“You have started a clash of religions for your politics. Please do not do this. This is not the question of Hindu and Muslims. It is the question of India’s future and national unity,” he added.
Sharma said no one would leave saffron for the fear of expletives. “The more you hurl abuses, the more our self-confidence will increase,” he added.
To a question, Sharma clarified that Adityanath had used the word ‘badla’ (revenge) to convey that vandals will have to pay for the damage caused to public property during protests against the amended citizenship law.
