In a provocative remark against Jawaharlal Nehru, Rajasthan BJP MLA Gyan Dev Ahuja said the country's first prime minister was not a 'pandit' as he ate beef and pork.
Often in the news for his contentious statements, the legislator from Ramgarh constituency of Alwar district blamed the Nehru-Gandhi family for all the social evils prevailing in the country.
Nehru could not be a pandit as he ate beef and pork. Congress has prefixed pandit before his name, Ahuja told reporters on Friday, reacting to state Congress chief Sachin Pilot's statement that Rahul Gandhi had learnt to visit temples from his grandmother Indira Gandhi.
Claiming that the Gandhi scion never visited temples with Indira Gandhi, Ahuja vowed to step down from his post if anyone could prove him wrong.
Congress leaders including Ashok Gehlot, Sachin Pilot and Ghulam Nabi Azad should tell when Rahul Gandhi's 'yagnopaveet sanskar' (sacred thread ceremony) took place, he said.
He said that if he is wrong he will quit his post, otherwise Pilot should resign.
He further accused the Congress party of indulging in politics of caste to contest elections and sought the demolition of all statues of members of the Nehru-Gandhi family and the monuments named after them.
This is not the first time Ahuja had given a controversial statement. Earlier in July this year, Ahuja stated that cow slaughter is bigger crime than terrorism.
Gyan Dev Ahuja, who had earlier demanded the release of men arrested for the alleged lynching of Rakbar alias Akbar Khan, said cows are treated as mothers in India and any 'misbehaviour' with them cannot be tolerated.
The BJP MLA said terrorists kill 2-5 people, but cow slaughtering hurts sentiments of several thousand and even lakhs of people.
Speaking to reporters at the BJP headquarters in Jaipur, the legislator said cow slaughtering will incite people and hurt their sentiments, which will lead to some incidents.
"Court should accept this. How should such incidents be stopped?" he said.
Ahuja said India is a country which respects mother and "Geeta, Dharti (land), cow, Ganga, Tulsi and a birth giver" are treated as mother in the country.
He said any 'misbehaviour' or 'goondaism' with the mother is not tolerated in this country and therefore it is a bigger crime than terrorism.
In 2016, the BJP legislator had stoked a controversy alleging that the Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU) was a hub of sex and drugs where over 3,000 used condoms and 2,000 liquor bottles were found daily.
Accusing those studying in JNU of indulging in illicit activities, the BJP MLA had also claimed that JNU students go naked on campus.
(With PTI inputs)
