New Delhi: Referring to Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s statement over Hinduism and Hindutva, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra on Friday alleged that Congress party’s attack on Hinduism is not a coincidence but an experiment.

Briefing reporters, Patra said, “When Salman Khurshid speaks against Hinduism, compares it with Boko Haram and ISIS, when Shashi Tharoor says Hindu Taliban or when it is called saffron terrorism, actually this is not a coincidence but an experiment. And, the biggest leader of this laboratory is Rahul Gandhi. After Rahul Gandhi, people like Shashi Tharoor, Salman Khurshid, Digvijay Singh and Mani Shankar Aiyar give outrageous statements against Hinduism.” The BJP leader alleged that it is in the nature of the Congress and the Gandhi family to attack Hinduism whenever they get a chance.

“It is unfortunate that within 24 hours, Hindu religion is attacked thrice by Congress party. First Salman Khurshid, then Alvi Sahab and now their biggest leader Rahul Gandhi himself. He has attacked Hinduism and Hindutva. It has been the character of the Congress and Gandhi family that whenever they get a chance, they attack Hinduism,” stated the BJP leader.

“On December 17, 2010, Rahul Gandhi had said that the danger to the country is from Hindus more than terrorism. P Chidambaram ji used the word saffron terrorism for the first time on August 25, 2010. Rahul Gandhi visits the temple just before the election. They go to ask for votes. They do vote bank politics,” he added.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Friday said Hinduism and Hindutva are two different things.

While addressing the launch of the Congress party’s digital campaign ‘Jan Jagran Abhiyan’ via video conferencing, Rahul Gandhi in his address asked, “What is the difference between Hinduism and Hindutva. Can they be the same thing? If they are the same thing, why don’t they have the same name? They’re obviously different things. Is Hinduism about beating a Sikh or a Muslim? Hindutva of course is.”

On Wednesday, former union minister Salman Khurshid got embroiled in controversy for “defaming and comparing Hinduism with terrorism” in his recent book “Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times”.

Khurshid’s new book on the Ayodhya verdict was released last week. It explored the Apex Court’s landmark judgement on the Ayodhya dispute. Senior Congress leader Khurshid has compared Hindutva to radical terrorist groups like “ISIS and Boko Haram”.

The development comes at a time when seven states in the country namely Goa, Manipur, Punjab, Uttar Pradesh, Uttarakhand, Himachal Pradesh and Gujarat are slated to go for assembly elections in the year 2022.