Senior RJD leader and former Bihar minister Abdul Bari Siddiqui stoked a controversy Sunday as he said he has no problem in chanting 'Bharat Mata ki Jai', but reciting national song Vande Mataram was against his beliefs.
Siddiqui, who is contesting from the Darbhanga Lok Sabha seat, also dared Prime Minister Narendra Modi to publicly denounce Mahatma Gandhi's assassin Nathuram Godse, whom the RJD leader dubbed the country's "first terrorist".
"Those who believe in one God will never recite 'Vande Mataram'," Siddiqui said, adding, he did not, however, have any problems with the slogan 'Bharat Mata Ki Jai'.
"Nathuram Godse, who killed Mahatma Gandhi, was the first terrorist of the country. Will Modi publicly condemn Godse?" he asked, referring to the assassin who allegedly had links with the RSS.
Reacting to Siddiqui's statement, state BJP spokesman Nikhil Anand said the RJD leader wanted to hog limelight by targeting the prime minister.
"Siddiqui is staring at an electoral defeat and he is targeting the BJP and the PM to grab media attention," he alleged.
On the RJD leader's challenge to the PM that he say "Godse Murdabad", Anand said, "I also ask Siddiqui whether he can speak in public against 'Kathmullawad' (obscurantism) and 'Maulanawad' (dominance of the clergy)." Siddiqui, a former state finance minister, had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha elections from Madhubani, where he lost by around 21,000 votes to BJP rival Hukumdeo Narayan Yadav.
In Darbhanga, he is pitted against BJP debutant Gopalji Thakur.
Meanwhile, the Congress - -an ally of the RJD -- sought to distance itself from Siddiqui's remarks.
"People should desist from making controversial statements," said senior Congress leader Prem Chandra Mishra, when asked to comment.
