Rijiju's remark on declining Hindu population is irresponsible: Congress

Hindu population was decreasing because there were no conversions, Rijiju had claimed on Twitter

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Congress party on Monday termed as "irresponsible" Union minister Kiren Rijiju's statement that Hindu population was decreasing in India as they "never convert people" and said it is an attempt to garner electoral gains out of polarisation on religious lines.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said the BJP was making such statements out of "desperation" as it was "losing" in the five states where assembly polls are being held.

He also said the conduct of the MoS, Home Affairs, was "unbecoming" of a minister and that the intellectual quotient of NDA ministers was on the "decline".

"It is not surprising if the Prime Minister can use the national security as a prop. There is nothing which stops his Ministers from going a step further and trying to attempt a religious polarisation," he said.

He said the statement "smacks of desperation" and of the fact that BJP has lost the plot.

"It smacks of the fact that for all the tall talk about development, ultimately the BJP comes back to its basic DNA and that basic DNA is to try and garner electoral benefit out of religious polarisation," he said.

Tewari said the statement made by the Minister of State for Home Affairs or the tweet he has put out was not limited to Arunachal Pradesh alone.

"If you read that tweet, the intent is implicit in it but the fact remains that when a Minister of the Union makes such an irresponsible statement, he must be held to account," he said.

The Congress leader said when suddenly "you wake up in the morning and shoot from the hip, this is the conduct which is unbecoming of a Minister".

"So, the only thing which seems to be decreasing is the intellectual quotient of the NDA-BJP Ministers," he said.

Earlier on Monday, Rijiju through a series of tweets claimed that Hindu population was decreasing in India as they "never convert people", while minorities are flourishing unlike some other countries.

"Hindu population is reducing in India because Hindus never convert people. Minorities in India are flourishing unlike some countries around (sic)," he tweeted.

The Minister of State for Home's comment came after the Arunachal Pradesh Congress Committee accused the Narendra Modi -led BJP government of trying to convert Arunachal Pradesh into a Hindu state.

"Why is Congress making such irresponsible statements? People of Arunachal Pradesh are unitedly living peacefully with each other (sic).

"Congress should not make such provocative statements. India is a secular country. All religious groups enjoy freedom & living peacefully (sic)," he said in a series of tweets, responding to the APCC's charge.