Hindu nationalists want dominance of a few people: Rahul Gandhi in Paris

London: Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has hit out at the BJP during an interaction with students and academics in Paris, saying that the governing party is out to get power at any cost and that there is nothing Hindu about their actions.

During the interaction on Saturday at the Sciences PO University in Paris, a leading social sciences institution in France, the 53-year-old Opposition leader covered a broad range of topics such as his ‘Bharat Jodo Yatra’, the Opposition alliance’s fight to defend India's democratic structures, changing global order and other key issues.

He stressed that the Opposition was committed to fighting for the "soul of India” and the country would “come out just fine” from the current “turbulence”.

"I've read the ‘Gita’, I've read a number of the Upanishads, I've read many Hindu books; there is nothing Hindu about what the BJP does, absolutely nothing,” said Gandhi, in response to a question about the rise of “Hindu nationalism” in the country during the interaction, a video of which was released on Sunday.

"I have not read anywhere, in no Hindu book, from no learned Hindu person have I ever heard that you should terrorise, harm people who are weaker than you. So, this idea, this word, Hindu nationalists, this is a wrong word. They're not Hindu nationalists. They have nothing to do with Hinduism. They are out to get power at any cost, and they will do anything to get power… They want dominance of a few people and that is what they are about. There is nothing Hindu about them,” he said.

The former Congress president asserted that 60% of India voted for the opposition parties while just 40% voted for the ruling party.

"So this idea that the majority community is voting for the BJP, this is a wrong idea. The majority community actually vote more for us than they vote for them,” he asserted.

On India-Bharat row, he said that in the Constitution, India is defined as "India that is Bharat, a union of states".

"So, these states have come together to form India or Bharat. The most important thing is that the voice of all the people who are included in these states is heard loud and clear and no voice is crushed or intimidated," he added.

The session in Paris, the second European city on his tour after Brussels, was moderated by Professor Christophe Jaffrelot, Director of the Centre of International Studies, and chaired by Arancha Gonzalez, Dean of the Paris School of International Affairs at Sciences PO.

Gandhi had a similar student interaction at INALCO University in the French capital before moving on to Rotterdam in the Netherlands.

Listen to the full conversation here: