Even as the Mahakumbh is going in Uttar Pradesh’s Prayagraj, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Monday took a swipe at the politicians taking holy dip in river Ganga saying that BJP leaders kept taking dips for the camera and asked if it would eliminate poverty. Addressing the ‘Jai Bapu, Jai Bhim, Jai Samvidhan’ rally in Madhya Pradesh’s Mhow, Kharge said “if taking dips into the Ganga would end poverty in the country or fill hungry stomachs”.
“I don’t want to hurt anyone’s ‘aastha (faith)’. If anyone feels bad, I apologise. But tell me, when a child is dying of hunger, is not going to school, labourers are not getting their dues, at such a time, these people are spending thousands of rupees and competing for taking dips (in the Ganga).” He said that the dips continues repeatedly until it appears good in photographs and media. The Leader.of Opposition in the Rajya sabha said that such people cannot benefit the country.
“Our faith is in God — people perform ‘puja’ at home every day, all women step out of their homes after performing ‘puja’, there is no issue. But we have an issue with the poor being exploited in the name of religion,” he Kharge said. Besides Kharge, Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi and sever other top leaders of the party were also present at the public meeting. Kharge’s remarks came after Union Home Minister Amit Shah took a holy dip at the Triveni Sangam in Prayagraj earlier in the day.
Kharge also trained his guns at the BJP and the RSS and labelled them as “traitors”. He said the Congress would never tolerate the exploitation of the poor in the name of religion. Kharge narrowed down his attack on Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Shah, saying “they have committed so many sins that they cannot go to heaven even after 100 lives”.