‘Then they should roam naked like…’: BJP MP after Salman Khurshid compares Rahul Gandhi with Lord Ram

Congress leader Salman Khurshid is facing criticism for comparing party leader Rahul Gandhi to Lord Ram and the Congress to `Bharat`. Addressing the mediapersons, Khurshid said, "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."

New Delhi: A day after Congress leader Salman Khurshid compared party leader Rahul Gandhi to Lord Ram, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) General Secretary Dushyant Gautam has hit back, saying the Congressmen should roam naked as Lord Ram`s ‘sena’ did. Speaking to ANI, Gautam said, "If he is Ram`s avatar, then Rahul Gandhi should tell his `sena` what he consumes that he doesn`t feel cold, why doesn`t his `sena` roam without clothes... Congressmen should roam naked as Lord Ram`s `sena` did."

The BJP leader further asked what Rahul Gandhi consumes so that he doesn`t feel cold and suggested that he should share with other party leaders too. "Rahul Gandhi should tell which prasad he consumes, due to which he does not feel cold. He should also give the same prasad to his 'sena' so that they too do not have to wear clothes in the cold," he added.

Acharya Satyendra Das, chief priest of Ram Janmabhoomi, Ayodhya condemned the statement of Salman Khurshid. "No one can be Lord Rama, nor can be Bharata. Rahul Gandhi can never be compared with Ram...we condemn what Salman Khurshid said," said the chief priest.

Earlier on Monday, linking the ongoing `Bharat Jodo Yatra` to the epic Ramayana, Congress leader Khurshid compared party leader Rahul Gandhi to Lord Ram and the Congress to `Bharat`. Addressing the mediapersons, Khurshid said, "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."

"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 added.

Asked about Union Health Ministry`s letter to Rahul Gandhi seeking adherence to Covid protocol during the `Bharat Jodo Yatra`, Khurshid said there cannot be an exclusive guideline for Congress over Covid, adding that the party will follow the norms whenever universal guidelines will be issued.

"If any scientific protocol is applicable for this country, it will also be applicable to us. But it cannot be said that Covid-19 will spread from the Congress march and not by the BJP. If someone follows the protocol, we will also follow it. But today, there is no protocol," said the Congress leader.