ASSEMBLY POLL '98
COMMENTARY
SPECIALS
INTERVIEWS
CAPITAL BUZZ
REDIFF POLL
DEAR REDIFF
THE STATES
YEH HAI INDIA!
ELECTIONS '98
ARCHIVES

Row over Sonia's Tirumala temple visit

Senior Congress leaders of Andhra Pradesh have strongly criticised the Bajrang Dal's statement on the propriety of allowing Sonia Gandhi, a "Roman Catholic Christian", inside the sanctum sanctorum of the Sri Venkateswara temple at Tirumala.

The Bajrang Dal had submitted a memorandum to the Tirumala-Tirupati Devasthanams executive officer urging him not to permit the Congress president to offer worship at the temple. There was a political motive behind her visit to the hill shrine, it had alleged.

AP Congress unit president Dr Y S Rajasekhar Reddy, who had arrived in Tirupati in connection with Sonia's visit tomorrow, lambasted the Sangh Parivar for whipping up religious feelings and creating a communal divide in the country.

Sonia is a Hindu and an Indian and has got every right to visit the temple. She had earlier visited various temples along with her husband and mother-in-law Indira Gandhi. This is an indication of the growing intolerance of the Bharatiya Janata Party and its front organisations over Sonia's popularity, especially after the Congress' victory in the recent assembly elections, he said.

UNI

Tell us what you think of this report