BJP accuses Congress of dividing Hindu society after Reddy remarks

India’s Bharatiya Janata Party has accused the Congress and Telangana Chief Minister Revanth Reddy of attempting to divide Hindu society along regional, linguistic, caste and gender lines. BJP MP and spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi made the allegations at a press conference on Wednesday. He was responding to remarks by Reddy at an event on September 28 concerning North Indian devotion to Lord Rama and South Indian devotion to Lord Shiva.

Trivedi said the comments reflected an effort to split Hindu society between North and South. He also criticised what he described as references to Dravidian and Aryan identities, and cited earlier comments attributed to Reddy about the DNA of Bihar and Telangana. The BJP spokesperson further alleged that Congress positions sought to divide people by language and caste.

He said the party’s “Smash Patriarchy” campaign targeted Hindu society while accusing Congress leaders of not responding to a statement by the Grand Mufti of Kerala about women. Trivedi presented the BJP’s own view of Hindu tradition as inclusive of visits to temples, gurdwaras, Buddhist and Jain institutions, dargahs and churches. He also cited religious traditions to argue that Shiva and Rama were interconnected.

He referred to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s parliamentary constituency of Varanasi and the name “Shiv Shakti Point” given to the Chandrayaan-3 landing site. He also raised the issue of Islamic historical influence around the Kashi Vishwanath temple, saying the courts would decide related questions. The remarks were presented by the BJP as criticism of Congress and Reddy.

The supplied material does not include a response from the Congress or the Telangana Chief Minister, nor does it independently verify the BJP’s allegations.