New Delhi: BJP MP Manoj Tiwari has announced a large-scale Shiv Puran Katha event in Delhi's Burari from 21 to 27 May, under the aegis of the Manav Seva Shiksha Sansthan. Tiwari claimed the programme would help propagate the spiritual values of Hinduism, and he pledged to distribute copies of the Ramcharitmanas to everyone attending, even “if one crore people come”.

However, the event announcement soon pivoted into a political attack on Congress leader Rahul Gandhi. Tiwari accused Gandhi of opposing Sanatan Dharma and harbouring "jealousy" towards Hinduism. He alleged that Gandhi only postures as religious while fundamentally lacking faith, and claimed, “People will now know his caste with the caste-based census.”

Echoing Tiwari’s rhetoric, BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh accused Gandhi of “insulting” Lord Ram and referred to him as “Mandbuddhi” (dull-witted), stating that the Congress party had long denied Lord Ram's existence, including through a 2007 affidavit filed by the UPA government. Chugh invoked nationalist poet Ramdhari Singh Dinkar to argue that Rahul Gandhi’s ideology is destructive to Indian values, and mocked him by saying, “How would you find Lord Ram while wearing spectacles of Italy?”

Other BJP leaders, including Shehzad Poonawalla, expanded the attack, linking Gandhi’s alleged disregard for Hindu beliefs to earlier Congress positions on the Ram Setu and surgical strikes. They claimed that the Congress party’s identity has become one of “Ram Droh” (betrayal of Ram) and “rashtra droh” (betrayal of the nation).

The pattern reflects a broader strategy by the BJP to conflate criticism of their politics with opposition to Hindu faith. While religious events like the Shiv Puran Katha are presented as cultural celebrations, they are increasingly used as political stages to frame opponents as adversaries of religion, morality, and national identity.

This latest episode highlights how religious symbolism continues to be harnessed by the BJP not just for cultural assertion, but as a consistent political weapon — especially in election seasons — aimed at polarising public opinion and consolidating votes.