NEW DELHI: The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) hit out at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for his recent remarks that Lord Ram is a "mythological" figure, calling him "Ram Drohi".
Referring to a video from a Brown University event in the US, where Rahul Gandhi is heard calling Indian deities, including Lord Ram, mythological figures, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the nation will never forgive him for questioning Lord Ram's existence.
"Rashtra Drohi Congress, Ab Ram Drohi Congress. Rahul Gandhi says Prabhu Ram is mythological or kalpanik. (Rahul Gandhi says Lord Ram is imaginary)," said Shehzad, adding "This is how and why they (Congress) opposed Ram Mandir and even doubted existence of Prabhu Ram…," Poonawala said on X while sharing a short clip of the full video of Rahul Gandhi.
Gandhi made the remark while answering a question on how secular politics should take shape in a time influenced by Hindu nationalism and whether, in posing a challenge to Hindu nationalism, one should look to Mahatma Gandhi for ideas, symbols, and inspiration, and is still relevant. In his reply, he said none of India’s respected reformers or thinkers have been bigots, and added that he does not see the BJP’s view as representative of Hinduism.
"If you look at pretty much all great indian social reformers political thinkers and you go back 3,000 years, you know, Buddha, Guru Nanak, Gandhi, Ambedkar ji, you see one stream right. And none of these are bigots, none of these people were saying "listen, we want to kill people we want to isolate people, we want to crush people, we believe that things should be done in this one particular way." All these people the voices of whom are frankly in our constitution, are essentially saying the same thing. I don't know of one person who we consider great in India ,you know... I mean all our mythological figures, [including] Lord Ram was of that kind. He was forgiving, he was compassionate. I don't consider what the BJP says to be the Hindu idea at all. I consider the Hindu idea to be much more pluralistic, much more embracing, much more affectionate, much more tolerant and open. There are people in every state and community who stood for those ideas, lived for those ideas and died for those ideas. Gandhiji is one of them. To me, hatred and anger against people come from fear. If you are not scared, you don't hate anybody," Gandhi said.
Gandhi also referred to the BJP as a "fringe group" despite their political dominance.
"I don't view the BJP conception as a Hindu conception. In terms of thinking, they are a fringe group, now they have captured political power, they have got a huge amount of wealth and power, but they don't represent the large majority of Indian thinkers by any means," he added.
BJP leaders responded sharply to the comments. Sharing the video on social media, they pointed to the Congress party’s earlier opposition to the construction of the Ram Temple.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said, "Prabhu Shri Ram was just a mythological figure – this is the mindset of Congress: mock Hindu faith, question Lord Ram, and then fake love for Sanatan during elections. Congress is blatantly Anti-Hindu!"
BJP National Spokesperson CR Kesavan said, "Bad mouthing Lord Ram and belittling Bharat on foreign soil seems to be the core ideology of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress."
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari also targeted the Congress leader, saying, "This has been Congress' attitude for a long time, once they denied Rameswaram Setu, those who don't have faith in Lord Ram, they try to finish him in many ways, they don't care about Lord Ram, Lord Shiv. We condemn this attitude. Everybody in India will understand Lord Ram and walk on the path of dignity, those who want to walk on the path of dignity will only be remembering Lord Ram, others won't."
Referring to a video from a Brown University event in the US, where Rahul Gandhi is heard calling Indian deities, including Lord Ram, mythological figures, BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said the nation will never forgive him for questioning Lord Ram's existence.
"Rashtra Drohi Congress, Ab Ram Drohi Congress. Rahul Gandhi says Prabhu Ram is mythological or kalpanik. (Rahul Gandhi says Lord Ram is imaginary)," said Shehzad, adding "This is how and why they (Congress) opposed Ram Mandir and even doubted existence of Prabhu Ram…," Poonawala said on X while sharing a short clip of the full video of Rahul Gandhi.
Rashtra Drohi Congress
— Shehzad Jai Hind (Modi Ka Parivar) (@Shehzad_Ind) May 3, 2025
Ab Ram Drohi Congress
Rahul Gandhi says Prabhu Ram is mythological or kalpanik
This is how and why they opposed Ram Mandir and even doubted existence of Prabhu Ram… pic.twitter.com/doyXugs8Jm
Gandhi made the remark while answering a question on how secular politics should take shape in a time influenced by Hindu nationalism and whether, in posing a challenge to Hindu nationalism, one should look to Mahatma Gandhi for ideas, symbols, and inspiration, and is still relevant. In his reply, he said none of India’s respected reformers or thinkers have been bigots, and added that he does not see the BJP’s view as representative of Hinduism.
"If you look at pretty much all great indian social reformers political thinkers and you go back 3,000 years, you know, Buddha, Guru Nanak, Gandhi, Ambedkar ji, you see one stream right. And none of these are bigots, none of these people were saying "listen, we want to kill people we want to isolate people, we want to crush people, we believe that things should be done in this one particular way." All these people the voices of whom are frankly in our constitution, are essentially saying the same thing. I don't know of one person who we consider great in India ,you know... I mean all our mythological figures, [including] Lord Ram was of that kind. He was forgiving, he was compassionate. I don't consider what the BJP says to be the Hindu idea at all. I consider the Hindu idea to be much more pluralistic, much more embracing, much more affectionate, much more tolerant and open. There are people in every state and community who stood for those ideas, lived for those ideas and died for those ideas. Gandhiji is one of them. To me, hatred and anger against people come from fear. If you are not scared, you don't hate anybody," Gandhi said.
Gandhi also referred to the BJP as a "fringe group" despite their political dominance.
"I don't view the BJP conception as a Hindu conception. In terms of thinking, they are a fringe group, now they have captured political power, they have got a huge amount of wealth and power, but they don't represent the large majority of Indian thinkers by any means," he added.
BJP leaders responded sharply to the comments. Sharing the video on social media, they pointed to the Congress party’s earlier opposition to the construction of the Ram Temple.
BJP spokesperson Pradeep Bhandari said, "Prabhu Shri Ram was just a mythological figure – this is the mindset of Congress: mock Hindu faith, question Lord Ram, and then fake love for Sanatan during elections. Congress is blatantly Anti-Hindu!"
BJP National Spokesperson CR Kesavan said, "Bad mouthing Lord Ram and belittling Bharat on foreign soil seems to be the core ideology of Rahul Gandhi and the Congress."
BJP MP Manoj Tiwari also targeted the Congress leader, saying, "This has been Congress' attitude for a long time, once they denied Rameswaram Setu, those who don't have faith in Lord Ram, they try to finish him in many ways, they don't care about Lord Ram, Lord Shiv. We condemn this attitude. Everybody in India will understand Lord Ram and walk on the path of dignity, those who want to walk on the path of dignity will only be remembering Lord Ram, others won't."
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