Sonia Gandhi is a 'teerth' for Congress, says BJP's Rameshwar Sharma

Hitting out at Madhya Pradesh Minister Govind Singh over his scrapping of 'Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojna' remark, BJP leader Rameshwar Sharma on Saturday accused Congress of not believing in 'Sanatan Hindu Dharma' and said that party interim president Sonia Gandhi is the only 'teerth' (pilgrimage) for them.

"Congress never believed in Sanatan Hindu Dharma. They never visited any religious or pilgrimage site like Jagannath Puri and Vaishno Devi. They are left with no other option. That is why they take Rahul Gandhi on temples' visit. They always oppose Ram," Sharma told ANI here.

"For them, only Sonia Gandhi is a 'teerth'. They do not believe any pilgrimage," he said.

On Friday, Singh said that the Mukhyamantri Teerth Darshan Yojna should be scrapped as it was not the government's job to conduct religious pilgrimages.

"Conducting religious pilgrimages is not the government's job, although no decision on it has been taken by the government. It is my personal opinion. Giving facilities to devotees, helping them is alright, but organising pilgrimages on government funds is not correct as per me. The pilgrimage should be conducted on the money earned by the people themselves," Singh had told ANI here.

The issue came under the spotlight after the Madhya Pradesh government cancelled the five state-sponsored pilgrimages for at least 4,000 old age residents of the state, just days before the proposed religious trip to Vaishno Devi, Kashi, Dwarka and Rameshwaram was to begin on February 15.

Singh, however, said that the funds which are saved can be better utilised in education, healthcare and other sectors for the betterment of all people of the state.