VHP demands Azad's ouster, apology from Sonia

The VHP on Sunday slammed Leader of Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Ghulam Nabi Azad for drawing a parallel between the RSS and terror outfit Islamic State and demanded his ouster from the Congress as well as an apology from party chief Sonia Gandhi.

"The National Integration Conference organised by Jamiat Ulama-i-Hind in Delhi proved to be a gathering of people against national integration... even Sonia Gandhi and Ghulam Nabi Azad seemed to be playing the same role," Vishwa Hindu Parishad joint general secretary Surendra Jain said in a statement.

"To appease the minority voters, they (Gandhi and Azad) trampled on all decencies," he said in the statement in Hindi.

Seeking an apology from Gandhi, Jain also sought Azad's ouster from the party.

"The Congress president should not only apologise to the nation but also oust Azad from the party," said the VHP leader.

Addressing the conference, Azad on Saturday said: "... so we oppose organisations like ISIS, the way we oppose RSS. If those among us in Islam too do wrong things, they are no way less than RSS."

The RSS is the ideological fountainhead of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party.

Sonia Gandhi, in her message to the conference, said the country was going through a critical phase and communal forces were creating an environment of hatred.