My family ‘Shiv Bhakt’, won’t do ‘Dalali’ over religion: Rahul Gandhi

TIL Desk/National/Amreli/ A day after a controversy broke out over his religion, Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he and his family members were ‘Shiv Bhakts’ (devotees of Lord Shiva) but asserted that he did not want to use his religion for political gains.

Addressing traders in a closed-door meeting in Amreli, Gandhi said he did not need anybody’s certificate about his religion, nor would he do ‘dalali’ (deal) over religion.Some BJP workers entered his name in the register meant for non-Hindus at the Somnath temple, leading to the controversy, the Congress leader alleged.

“My grandmother (late Indira Gandhi) and my family are Shiv Bhakts. But we keep such things private. We generally do not speak about them. Because, we think it is a very personal matter and we don’t need anyone else’s certificate about it,” he said.

“We do not want to commercialise this thing. We don’t want to do ‘dalali’ over it. We do not want to use it for political purposes too,” he said. A video of his interaction was shared with the media by local Congress leaders. “I will tell you what had happened (on Wednesday). I went inside the temple. Then I signed the visitors’ book. After that, BJP people wrote my name in the second book,” Gandhi alleged.