New Delhi/GUWAHATI: A controversy broke out over Rahul Gandhi’s charge on Monday that he was stopped from entering a Vaishanvite monastery in Barpeta by RSS workers during his recent visit to Assam, an allegation denied by the temple chief.
As the claim by the Congress Vice President triggered a political slugfest, the BJP alleged it was “fabricated”, saying RSS does not run temples and without naming anyone said “wrong messages” are being spread to “mislead” people.
Rahul claimed that what happened to him at the temple during his visit to Assam last week was BJP’s style of politics which was “unacceptable”.
“When I went to Assam I wanted to visit a temple in Barpeta district. And at the temple the RSS people there stopped me from entering the temple. This is the way the BJP operates,” Rahul told reporters outside Parliament. “They made the women there stand in front of me and told me that I cannot enter the temple,” he said, and asked, “Who are they to stop me?”
Rahul, who was in Barpeta last Friday, said he visited the monastery later in the evening when the suspected RSS workers had left the place.
The head of Barpeta Satra, the Vaishnavite monastery, dimissed Rahul’s claim, saying there was no RSS worker at the religious place. Even as Barpeta Satra Bura Satriya (head) Bakhista Deba Sarma termed the allegation as “unfortunate”, Chief Minister Tarun Gogoi stuck to his stand.
“There is no RSS agent in the Satra. It is a religious place and only religious activities are undertaken here. Where does politics come into the Satra”?,” Sarma said while speaking to reporters in Barpeta.
“The women here are simple people and they come twice a day for participating in the community prayers in the Satra. They were only waiting at the Satra gate to see Rahul Gandhi. They do not know anything about politics,” Sarma said.
“Connecting a centre of religion and culture like the Satra with politics by Gogoi who is the chief minister is most unfortunate. In future, politics and the Satra should not be interlinked,” he said.
BJP termed as “fabricated” Rahul’s charge alleging he had become a “lying machine” and was resorting to such non-issues to disrupt Parliament.”Earlier somebody (Selja) claimed that she was stopped from entering a temple in Dwarka and she was exposed in Parliament. What Gandhi says is fabricated and a lie,” BJP leader and Union Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in Delhi.
Meanwhile, Assam chief minister Tarun Gogoi has alleged the RSS of trying to prevent Congress vice-president, Rahul Gandhi from visiting the famous Barpeta Satra (a vaishnavite monastery) on Saturday during his visit to Assam.
Gogoi said, “I received information two days ago that there could be some trouble if Rahul Gandhi went to Barpeta Satra. I spoke to the Satradhikar (head of the monastery) myself and he also confirmed that some people were opposed to the visit.”
He said the Congress leaders, including himself and Gandhi, therefore, decided to forego the visit to the Satra at the start of the padayatra undertaken by Rahul Gandhi on that day to avoid any confrontation.
Gogoi alleged, “The RSS had lined up some women at the gate of the satra to stop Rahul Gandhi from entering the Satra. We wanted to avoid confrontation and visited the Satra at around 3-30 P.M. on Saturday and paid obeisance at the end of his ‘unity march’.” He said an inquiry would be conducted by the Deputy Commissioner of Barpeta district regarding the episode.
However, a source at Keshav Dham, the RSS state headquarter here, said if there was opposition to his visit how did Rahul Gandhi visit the Satra that day ?
A source in the monastery, however, denied any knowledge of RSS opposition to Rahul Gandhji’s visit to the satra.
It informed that the abbot of the monastery was, in fact, waiting to receive Rahul Gandhi on Saturday for four hours since 8-30 A.M. along with senior Congress leader Bhumidhar Barman and Nilamoni Sen Deka. But Rahul Gandhi didn’t come during that period as he changed plan and visited the satra later in the afternoon.
During the morning hours that day there was a usual gathering of people at the gateway to the satra for morning prayers. (PTI with inputs from our correspondent)
