RULING Congress party on Thursday (October 3) ridiculed Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi for his "toilets first, temples later" remark and asked BJP, which had racked up a controversy over a similar remark by Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, why it has “gone silent” this time.
Party general secretary Digvijay Singh referred to a media report, which had quoted Modi as saying that those who clean toilets get spiritual pleasure in doing it.
Union Minister Rajiv Shukla said Modi is “not a Hindu leader” but is being projected as such to “mislead” Hindus and garner votes.
“BJP goes silent on whatever Narendra Modi says and begins supporting him. Jairam Ramesh had once said toilets should be made first in villages before temples. BJP had then immediately criticised Ramesh and demanded that he seek an apology from the nation.
“Why is BJP not opening its mouth when Modi said this? He (Modi) is not a Hindu leader. He has not even done anything for Hindus. His views are also entirely different. He is being projected like this to mislead people, mislead Hindus under a conspiracy to garner votes,” Shukla said.
Singh, who is a known detractor of Modi, said he had seen an article in which “Modi had said people who clean toilets get spiritual pleasure in cleaning it. I want to ask him, had he ever cleaned the toilet and experienced pleasure?”
During a function for youths in New Delhi on Wednesday (October 2), Modi had said he dared to say so even though his image as a Hindutva leader did not allow him.
“I am known to be a Hindutva leader. My image does not permit me to say this, but I dare to say it. My real thoughts are ‘Pehle shauchalaya, phir devalaya’ (toilet first, temple later),” he said.
