BJP tells JD(U) chief to restrain Tiwari

On a day the BJP urged the JD(U) to restrain its Rajya Sabha MP Shivanand Tiwari over his comments on the RSS, JD(U) chief Sharad Yadav suggested that the remarks by Mohan Bhagwat about women were "shallow".

Tiwari sparked a controversy by describing RSS chief Bhagwat and MIM MLA Akbaruddin Owaisi as "two sides of the same coin", drawing condemnation from the BJP and the RSS. "Bhagwat and Owaisi are two sides of the same coin. One provokes Hindus against Muslims and the other instigates Muslims against Hindus," Tiwari said.

"On behalf of the BJP, I not only refute, but strongly condemn his completely unwarranted comments. He has compared Mohan Bhagwat with Owaisi.... He has made very uncharitable comments about the RSS. It is not only regrettable, but highly condemnable," BJP spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad said.

Senior BJP leader Uma Bharti said she felt "pity" on those who make such remarks while RSS leader Indresh Kumar said "the person making such remarks should consult doctors for his mental health".

The BJP spokesperson also urged the JD(U) president "to kindly restrain these highly unwarranted and condemnable utterances of Shivanand Tiwari".

However, Sharad Yadav, in a separate remark, made light of the RSS chief's views on women in society. "Several statements are being made these days...the statements show their thinking and views. All these are shallow statements," Yadav said response to queries on the remarks of Bhagwat in Indore on Saturday where he said a woman is bound by contract to husband to look after him. Yadav, however, sought to steer clear from confrontation with the RSS saying he had not read Bhagwat's statement and would avoid a direct response to those views.

RSS akin to Taliban, says Digvijaya

Raghogarh (MP): Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh has equated the saffron outfit with the Taliban. Singh has alleged that there was not much difference between RSS and the Taliban as both are "fundamentalist". "Only fundamentalists want to prescribe a dress code for women and by doing this they want to hide their own misbehaviour," the Congress leader told reporters here on Sunday night after addressing a meeting for Raghogarh Municipal elections. PTI

ALSO READ

Pawar to seek special package for state

Railway bribery case: Nephew rose from obscurity, worked behind the scenes

For AMU students, wearing sherwani no issue

Polls today, Cong pins hope on BSY