This refers to the article, “Rahul's Somnath visit is a gimmick” (November 29) by Anirban Ganguly. The writer has validly questioned Rahul Gandhi's ‘opportunism' in view of his motivated visits to temples, including Somnath, in Gujarat on the eve of the Gujarat Assembly election. He was earlier opposed to temple worship. Rahul's great-grandfather, Jawaharlal Nehru, was strongly opposed to his colleagues, Vallabhbhai Patel's and KM Munshi's efforts to rebuild historic Somnath temple destroyed by Islamic invaders, dismissing these efforts as smacking of 'Hindu revivalism'. Nehru also tried to dissuade first President of India, Rajendra Prasad,from inaugurating the rebuilt Somnath temple.
If Rahul Gandhi, who is about to take over as the president of the Congress Party from his mother, is proud to be a Hindu and his temple visits are not a 'gimmick', will he distance himself from his great-grandfather's known aversion to the faith he was born into, as demanded by the authorIJ