Hyderabad

SlammingTelangana Chief Minister A Revanth Reddy over his remarks on Hindu gods, state BJP president N Ramchander Rao on Tuesday accused him of trying to divide the country along north-south lines and pursuing vote-bank politics.

He alleged that Reddy was "playing at the hands of Congress leaders Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi", whom he accused of not respecting Hinduism.

Rao called for protests across Telangana against Reddy's remarks. Reddy on September 28 claimed that the Congress had succeeded only in the southern states but struggled in the north because the BJP had "stolen Lord Ram", who is revered there, while Lord Shiva is worshipped in the south.

Speaking at an interactive session organised by a media organisation in Delhi, Reddy also claimed that Shiva was the God of the poor, Ram was the God of the rich, and the BJP was a party of the rich.

"Reddy's statement on Hindu gods is highly condemnable. It is objectionable. It is an absurd statement by a person holding a Constitutional post," Rao told media.

Recalling Reddy's past remarks that "Congress means Muslims, Muslims mean Congress", Rao alleged that the CM was seeking to unite Muslims while dividing Hindus.

He alleged that Reddy was trying to divide society by portraying Lord Ram as the God of the rich and Shiva as the God of the poor, and accused him of using religious and north-south divisions for vote-bank politics.