Rahul Gandhi fumes at Mohan Bhagwat's remark linking India's ‘true independence’ to Ram Mandir: ‘He has audacity to…’

Days after Mohan Bhagwat called Ram Mandir's ‘Pran Pratishtha’ ceremony as “true independence of India,” the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi, on Wednesday, lashed out at the RSS chief for his remark.

The Congress leader urged people to “stop listening to the nonsense” and called Bhagwat's comments an “act of treason.”

“He has the audacity to say this publicly, in any other country, he would be arrested and tried. To say that India did not get independence in 1947 is an insult to every single Indian person,” Rahul Gandhi said on Wednesday.

“Mohan Bhagwat has the audacity to inform the nation every 2-3 days what he thinks about the independent movement, Constitution. What he said yesterday is treason because it is stating that the Constitution is invalid, fight against the British was invalid,” said Rahul Gandhi while urging people to stop listening to the “nonsense”.

He also said that the Congress party worked with the people to build a nation on the principles of the Constitution.

‘True independence of India’

RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday referred to the Ram temple consecration day in Ayodhya as “true independence of Bharat.” He made the statement after presenting the 'National Devi Ahilya Award' to Champat Rai, general secretary of Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teerth Kshetra Trust, in Indore.

In his address, Bhagwat said that the date of Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya should be celebrated as “Pratishtha Dwadashi”.

He said that the date of the Ram temple consecration in Ayodhya should be celebrated as the “true independence” of Bharat, which faced "parachakra" (enemy attack) for several centuries, was established on this day.

After India got political independence from the British on August 15, 1947, a written Constitution was made according to the path shown by that specific vision, which comes out of the "self" of the country, but the document was not run according to the spirit of the vision at that time, Bhagwat said on Monday, reported ANI.