Hitting out at Congress national general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma said that the Congress leader was denigrating Hinduism and supporting rioters to remain in the limelight.

“Priyanka should know that saffron is the colour of valour. She should not denigrate saffron and Hinduism to which this colour is associated with,” Dr Sharma said at a hurriedly called press conference in Lucknow on Monday.

The deputy chief minister said that Congress leaders should first learn about Hinduism and then speak about it.

Earlier, during a press conference in Lucknow, Priyanka had said that saffron denoted Hinduism, a religion that did not advocate violence or ‘revenge’. By saying this, she referred to Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath who dons saffron robe and had warned of revenge after the recent anti-CAA protests.

Sharma said that the Congress brass was supporting arsonists to remain in the limelight. “Priyanka even broke traffic rules and created a ‘tamasha’ on the streets of Lucknow despite Section 144 (CrPC) being in force. This was done only for the media. The CRPF even gave a clarification to say that Priyanka had broken law,” Sharma added.

“The Congress is spreading canards in the name of NRC (National Register of Citizens) and Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA) for vote politics. Today’s statement of Priyanka Gandhi Vadra on saffron is an extension of this political game plan. The Congress will not succeed in its nefarious design,” he said.