BJP's potshots at Rahul after pastor tells him Jesus the only God

New Delhi, Sep 10: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi, who is on a 150-day-long 'Bharat Jodo Yatra', met a controversial catholic priest George Ponnaiah in the Kanyakumari district of Tamil Nadu where he camped for a morning break on Friday. The BJP today slammed the Congress leader over a video that is now viral on social media platforms. In the video the pastor is seen terming Jesus the 'only real god'.

BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla attacked Rahul Gandhi, "George Ponnaiah who met Rahul Gandhi says Jesus is the only God unlike Shakti (& other Hindu Gods)".

"George Ponnaiah who met Rahul Gandhi says 'Jesus is the only God unlike Shakti (& other Gods)'." "This man was arrested for his Hindu hatred earlier - he also said 'I wear shoes because impurities of Bharat Mata should not contaminate us'. Bharat Jodo with Bharat Todo icons," Poonawalla tweeted.

"It's Rahul Gandhi's Nafrat Jodo Abhiyan. Today they have made a person like George Ponnaiah the poster boy of Bharat Jodo Yatra who challenged, threatened Hindus and said inappropriate things about Bharat Mata. Congress has a long history of being anti-Hindu," Poonawalla said to ANI.

For the unversed, Ponniah has a history of delivering provocative statements that have landed him in trouble in the past. He was arrested last year in July for his hate speech targeting the Hindu community. He made contentious remarks in a meeting on July 18, 2021, at Arumanai in Tamil Nadu

The Congress accused the BJP of spreading mischief and alleging that the ruling party has turned more desperate ever since the successful launch of the 'Bharat Jodo Yatra'.

The Congress was objecting to a tweet put out by BJP leaders about Rahul Gandhi's conversation with a Christian priest about Jesus being God.

AICC general secretary communications Jairam Ramesh said BJP's "hate factory" is sharing tweets about Gandhi which has no relation to the audio.

"An atrocious tweet from the BJP hate factory is doing the rounds. It bears no relation whatsoever to what is recorded in the audio. This is typical BJP mischief that has become more desperate after the successful launch of BharatJodoYatra which is evoking such a huge response," Ramesh tweeted.

"People who were responsible for the killing of Mahatma Gandhi and the murders of people like Narendra Dabholkar, Govind Pansare, MM Kalburgi and Gauri Lankesh are raising questions! What a morbid joke! Such attempts to damage the spirit of #BharatJodoYatra will fail miserably," he said in another tweet.

Gandhi is undertaking the 3,570-km 'Bharat Jodo Yatra' to connect with people across the country while seeking to strengthen the Congress party, which has suffered successive electoral defeats in the last few years.