Congress's CP Joshi makes casteist slur against PM, says only Brahmins know Hinduism

Joshi made these remarks while addressing a gathering in Sema village in Khamnor on Thursday.

JAIPUR: Senior Congress leader CP Joshi has triggered a fresh controversy by making casteist comments against Prime Narendra Modi and Union Minister Uma Bharti in Rajsamand district of the poll-bound Rajasthan.

The Congress veteran made these remarks while addressing a gathering in Sema village in Khamnor on Thursday. 

Attacking PM Modi and Bharti, Joshi questioned their caste and their wisdom on 'Hinduism'.

According to media reports, besides PM Modi and Bharti, Joshi also attacked other 'Hindutva' icons including Sadhvi Ritambhara.   

''Does anyone know the caste of Uma Bharti? Does anyone know what is the caste of Ritambhara? In this country, if there is anyone who knows about religion it is the 'Pandits'. It is very weird that people like Uma Bharti who belongs to the Lodi community are talking about the Hindu religion,'' Joshi said. 

Congress leader continued by saying, ''Sadhvi ji (Ritambhara) also belongs to a different religion and she's talking about the Hindu religion. Narendra Modi also belongs to some other religion and talks about Hinduism. This isn't their job. Only Brahmins know about Hinduism.''

The video of Joshi making controversial comments on PM Modi and other BJP leaders went viral as it was widely shared on the social media.

All this comes days senior Congress leader Kamal Nath was accused of urging Muslims to vote in large numbers for his party in order to defeat the ruling BJP in Madhya Pradesh.

Kamal Nath was severely criticised by the BJP, which accused him of polarising the voters on the communal lines.

A complaint was also made to the poll panel against Kamal Nath seeking strict action against him.

The BJP delegation comprising Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi, SS Ahluwalia, Meenakshi Lekhi, Anil Baluni and Om Prakash urged the poll panel to take legal action against Nath for inciting religious sentiments by appealing to a particular religious community, news agency ANI reported. 

Attacking Congress over the issue, BJP alleged that the latter's pro-Hindu stance is a 'facade' and that the party believes in "divide and rule" via appeasement politics. 

A viral video of Kamal Nath showed him addressing a gathering of Muslim clerics and making strategies for the upcoming assembly elections in the state. 

In the shocking video clip, Kamal Nath could be heard saying that the tribal vote was unimportant to his party and reiterating that if 90% of Muslim voters don't support the Congress, the party will be finished. 

Later, clarifying on the video row, Kamal Nath said he just warned the Muslims to "not get confused" and that after the elections, the Congress "will defend everyone".