Insulting to Hindu faith: Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Rahul Gandhi's Shakti remark

THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Union Minister and BJP leader Rajeev Chandrasekhar on Monday condemned Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's 'Shakti' remark that stirred controversy ahead of the Lok Sabha polls and said that such statements are insulting to the Hindu faith and were made to divide communities.

"They are either saying things that are outright lies, or they say things that are absolutely insulting to the Hindu faith, or they do things that are dividing communities.

I find Rahul Gandhi's entire conduct the most mystifying, most confusing act in Indian politics. It is not something that I waste my time analyzing," said Chandrasekhar.

Taking a dig at Congress' performance in 2014 and 2019 elections, he said, "The people of India have told them again and again in the 14 and 19 elections what they think about him and his views."

The Indian National Congress (of the UPA) could only manage 44 seats in 2014, while in 2019 they won 52 seats in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

Rahul Gandhi, in his comments made on Sunday in Maharashtra, had raised concerns about the operation of EVMs, to emphasize the opposition's struggle against the might of the state.

"There is a word 'Shakti' (might) in Hinduism. We are fighting against a Shakti (might of the state). The question is, what is that Shakti and what does it entail for us? The soul and integrity of EVMs have been traded to the King (Modi). This is a fact. Not just EVMs but every autonomous institution of the country, be it the ED, CBI or Income Tax department, have traded their spines to the Centre," Rahul said in an address in Mumbai.

While speaking about the Election Commission of India's orders for the removal of home secretaries in six states, he said, "This is normal, the election commission, during elections, makes changes for free, fair and transparent elections. I think it's a part of that."

In a decisive move towards upholding the principles of free, fair and transparent elections, the Election Commission of India (ECI) has issued orders for the removal of Home Secretaries in six states, namely Gujarat, Uttar Pradesh, Bihar, Jharkhand, Himachal Pradesh and Uttarakhand.

Additionally, the Secretary of the General Administrative Department in Mizoram and Himachal Pradesh has also been removed.

When asked about the allegations raised against him by opposition leader VD Satheeshan, Chandrashekhar responded that the Congress would do all kinds of things.

He believes that they have run out of ways to compete with the BJP's ideas of development, progress, and prosperity.

Chandrasekhar further stated that he sees their accusations as part of a political strategy to make connections between the BJP and other parties, especially the left in Kerala.

"The Congress will do all these kinds of things. They have long since run out of ways of competing with our ideas of development, our ideas of progress and prosperity. So they will continuously do this. They lied in 2014, and they accused Modi ji in 2019. This is part of the political strategy of trying to make these connections between the BJP and other parties, especially the left in Kerala, as they did with BRS in Telangana, to make up stories, just to appeal to some election vote bank. The funniest and most ironic thing about all this is that Congress and the left are INDIA partners; they have samosas and teas all the time."