Under attack over a statement his detractors took umbrage at, BJP President Nitin Gadkari today denied comparing Swami Vivekananda with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and expressed “sincere regrets” over the hurt to public sentiments caused by his remarks.
“I would like to reiterate that I never compared Swami Vivekananda with anyone. I had absolutely no intention to project Swami Vivekananda in bad light.
“If my words about Swami Vivekananda have hurt the public sentiments in any manner, I express my sincere regrets,” he said in a statement.
Gadkari’s speech in Bhopal on Sunday that appeared to compare the Intelligence Quotient of Swami Vivekananda and Ibrahim had come under attack from his political rivals.
“As per psychology, if we can compare the IQ level of Swami Vivekananda and that of Dawood Ibrahim, then it could have been the same. But Vivekananda used it in nation building, brotherhood and spiritualism, while Dawood used that in excelling in crime world,” Gadkari was reported to have said in that speech.
Today, the BJP President clarified that Swami Vivekananda has always been a source of inspiration for everyone in BJP.
“My personal reverence for Swami Vivekananda is second to none. In that context, I had referred to Swami Vivekananda dedicating his intellect for the welfare of humanity,” he said adding, “I am deeply pained to note that my words have been taken out of context to create confusion.”
Comments
Comments have to be in English, and in full sentences. They cannot be abusive or personal. Please abide by our community guidelines for posting your comments.
We have migrated to a new commenting platform. If you are already a registered user of TheHindu Businessline and logged in, you may continue to engage with our articles. If you do not have an account please register and login to post comments. Users can access their older comments by logging into their accounts on Vuukle.