The BJP has demanded that Salman Khurshid be sacked from the Congress.
Senior Congress leader Salman Khurshid had landed in controversy over his new book on Ayodhya. A Delhi-based lawyer has filed a complaint against him, accusing the 68-year-old of comparing "Hindutva" with radical Islamic terror groups. Ahead of next year's elections in five states, the BJP has also targeted the Congress, accusing it of playing "communal politics" to get Muslim votes. The BJP has also demanded that Salman Khurshid be sacked from the Congress and that Congress chief Sonia Gandhi explain the statement "if she respects Hindus".
A passage in Mr Khurshid's new book, ''Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times'', read: "Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like ISIS and Boko Haram of recent years".
Highlighting the paragraph, Amit Malviya, the BJP's IT cell chief, tweeted: "Congress's Salman Khurshid in his new book writes that Hindutva is similar to the jihadist Islamist groups like ISIS and Biko Haram. What else can we expect from someone whose party coined the term Saffron terror just to draw equivalence with Islamic jihad, to get Muslim votes?"
BJP spokesperson Gaurav Bhatia said the book is hurting religious sentiment in the country. "Hinduism was compared to ISIS and Boko Haram. Why is the Congress party doing this while staying in India? Congress is weaving a web like a spider against Hindus… All this happens at the behest of Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi. Earlier, the term 'Hindu terrorism' was invented in the Congress office".
Demanding that Mr Khurshid be sacked from the Congress, he said, "If Sonia Gandhi respects Hindus, then she should come out and explain it. If you remain silent, then it will be clear that your ideology is also against Hindus".
"Due to the politics of hatred of Congress, the public will teach a lesson in the assembly elections to be held in 5 states next year," he added.
In his complaint, advocate Vineet Jindal said the statement is "stirring enraged emotions among the Hindu religion followers ".
Calling it a "misuse" of the constitutional right to free speech, Mr Jindal's complaint read: "The contents of the statement made by the accused, claim Hinduism to be equivalent to ISIS and Boko haram, which are terrorist groups. It is a quite aggravating and defamatory statement for the whole Hindu community and also questions their values and virtues about a society. The equivalence of Hinduism to ISIS and Boko haram is perceived as a negative ideology Hindus have been following and Hinduism is violent, inhuman and oppressive".