‘Lord Krishna also talked of jihad in Bhagavad Gita’: Congress leader’s remarks spark political row

A war of words erupted between Congress and the Bhartiya Janta Party (BJP) over the remarks of senior Congress leader and former Union Minister Shivraj Patil about Lord Shiva “talking about jihad” in the Hindu holy book Bhagavad Gita.

Shivraj Patil said that the concept of jihad is not only mentioned in Islamic texts, but also in the Bhagavad Gita and Christianity. Slamming his remarks, BJP accused the senior Congress leader of playing vote bank politics through his comments about jihad.

Former Lok Sabha member and union minister Shivraj Patil was speaking at the launch of Congress veteran and former Union minister Mohsina Kidwai's biography and said that there is a lot of discussion of jihad in the religion of Islam.

The Congress leader further said that the concept comes to the fore when despite having the right intentions and doing the right thing, nobody understands or reciprocates, and then it is said one can use force, as per PTI reports.

While speaking in Hindi, Patil claimed, “It is not just in Quran, but in Mahabharata also, the part in Gita, Shri Krishna also talks of jihad to Arjun and this thing is not just in Quran or Gita but also in Christianity.”

After AAP’s Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred & votebank politics,Congress’ Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught “Jihad” to Arjun!

Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir,Questioned Ram JI’s existence, said Hindutva = ISIS 1/n pic.twitter.com/Xiw7v4mgHa

— Shehzad Jai Hind (@Shehzad_Ind) October 20, 2022

The 87-year-old political leader also said, “If after explaining everything, people are not understanding, they are coming with weapons then you cannot run, you cannot call that jihad and you cannot call it wrong, this is what must be understood, there should not be this concept of making people understand with weapons in hand.”

BJP was left angered by the remarks made by Patil, saying that Congress is trying to play vote-bank politics by such statements.

BJP spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said in a tweet, "After AAP's Gopal Italia & Rajendra Pal, not to be outdone in Hindu hatred & vote bank politics, Congress' Shivraj Patil says Shri Krishna taught 'Jihad' to Arjun!”

The BJP leader further said on the social media platform, “Congress coined Hindu/Saffron terror, opposed Ram Mandir, Questioned Ram JI's existence, said Hindutva=ISIS.”

(With PTI inputs)

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