Congress to re-orient to take on BJP's Hindutva issue: Narayansamy

Shillong, Jan 20 (IANS) Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi for his "stoic silence" on the controversial "Ghar Wapsi" (conversion) programme, the Congress Tuesday said it would re-orient some of its policies to take on issue relating to Hindutva raise by the BJP.

"The Congress party is totally opposed to it (forcible conversion). We have to reorient some of our policies, especially the issue relating to Hindu raise by BJP in trying to dominate and making India as a Hindu nation," AICC general secretary V. Narayansamy told journalists here.

"If people want to embrace to any religion they are free to do so. Secularism is the key word in the constitution but the BJP has totally subverted it by using RSS and Bajrang Dal to convert people from other religion to Hinduism."

Claiming that the BJP-led central government was trying to dominate by making India a "Hindu nation", Narayansamy said: "The reality of this is that the prime minister himself became a silent spectator on this issue and he is endorsing the RSS' views on conversion and allowing the communal flare up in the country."

Promising that the Congress would oppose tooth and nail against the BJP's conversion policy, the former union minister said, "The Congress is working to ensure that all religions in the country are to be treated as equal. The people have rights under the Constitution of India to embrace any religion."