BJP leaders responded angrily to Salman Khurshid’s remarks about Rahul Gandhi and Lord Ram. Khurshid stated on Wednesday that BJP is following Ravana’s route and that Rahul Gandhi is not Ram in the midst of the argument. Salman Khurshid, a congressman, recently stirred up controversy by equating Rahul Gandhi to Lord Ram. He fueled it by asserting that Rahul Gandhi is not Lord Ram and that the BJP is following Ravana’s path on Wednesday. “Rahul Gandhi is not Lord Ram, but he can follow the path shown by Lord Ram. They (BJP) are saying that you do not have the right to walk on it. We have an objection as they are following the path of Ravana instead of Ram,” Salman Khurshid said to news agency ANI.

The controversy started with speculations over why Rahul Gandhi is not feeling cold in Delhi. “Rahul Gandhi is superhuman. While we are freezing in the cold and wearing jackets, he is going out in t-shirts (for his Bharat Jodo Yatra). He is like a yogi doing his ‘tapasya’ with focus,” Salman Khurshid said on Monday. Drawing a parallel between Bharat Jodo Yatra and Ram’s yatra, Salman Khurshid said, “Lord Ram’s ‘khadau’ goes very far. Sometimes when Ram ji is not able to reach, Bharat takes the ‘khadau’ and goes to places. Like that, we have carried the ‘khadau’ in Uttar Pradesh. Now that ‘khadau’ has reached Uttar Pradesh. Ram ji (Rahul Gandhi) will also come.” He meant Congress workers are like ‘Bharat.’

BJP leaders reacted angrily to this, criticising the Congress leaders’ sycophancy in trying to placate the Gandhi family. “The Congress will go to any lengths to appease Rahul Gandhi by comparing this corrupt man to Lord Ram,” said BJP national spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia. “This is the same Congress that used to say Lord Ram was a fictional figure. The same person they compare to Lord Ram says men go to temples to tease and molest women,” the BJP leader said.

Khurshid defended his statement, stating that he never compared Rahul Gandhi to Ram. “No one can replace God but everyone can try to walk the path shown by him. Why should anyone object if I say someone is following that path,” Salman Khurshid said. “I am willing to say whatever they believe I have said. Have I said that Rahul Gandhi is like Ram? Have I said it? I am willing to say it,” the Congress leader added.