‘Will Mahatma Gandhi be dubbed communal for Ram Rajya?’

Kalaburagi: State BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel on Monday wondered if Mahatma Gandhi could be dubbed 'communal' for advocating establishment of 'Ram Rajya'.

Addressing a meeting of BJP functionaries, Mr Kateel indirectly took a dig at those who dubbed BJP as communal for advocating Ram Rajya. “Gandhiji spoke of Ram Rajya, we are also advocating the need to establish Ram Rajya,” he said. Mr Kateel tried to draw a contrast between the BJP and Congress to drive home the point how organisationally the former had developed over the years.

“In 2004 when I first became an MP, Venkaiah Naidu was party president. The Congress had Sonia Gandhi as its president. Subsequently L K Advani, Rajnath Singh, Nitin Gadkari and Amit Shah became BJP presidents. I began my political career as a small time functionary of BJP and have now become state president. Paradoxically, Sonia Gandhi is AICC President today too. This shows how vibrant internal democracy in our party is in contrast to the family rule prevailing in the Congress,” Mr Kateel said.