'People of India not fools, I feel like laughing at Singhal's intelligence': Kamal Farooqi

Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Kamal Farooqi on Sunday scoffed at Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) patron Ashok Singhal's controversial 'Hindu nation' remark, calling it a 'mad dream' and added that Singhal, who has fooled the people of Hindustan since his youth, cannot fool for long.

"I feel like laughing over his intelligence. He has always given out such statements since his youth. I think he believes that the people of Hindustan are fools. But people can't be fooled for a long time," Farooqi told ANI here.

"First, he exploited in the name of Sri Ram and afterwards received crores of rupees for the Ram Mandir. There has yet been no accounting on that issue. These people have this mad dream of 'a Hindu state' and I can only scoff at it," he added.

Highlighting that Hinduism is an old religion whose roots lie in Hindustan, Farooqi said: "I have no further comments to make. I don't have anything against any religion."

VHP patron Ashok Singhal has sparked another controversy by saying that India would be a 'Hindu' nation by 2020.

"I was at the Sai Baba Ashram where Sai Baba told me by 2020 the entire country will be Hindu and 2030 the entire world will be Hindu. I feel that revolution has started," he said at a function in the national capital.

He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led NDA Government has put an end to 800 years of 'slavery'.

Earlier, Singhal had said that the recent general elections have shown that polls can be won without Muslim support, and that now the latter should learn to respect Hindus.