Beni criticises Gadkari over Vivekananda remarks

"Those equating Swami Vivekanand with Dawood Ibrahim could only have a very bad mentality," Verma told reporters here late last night.

Verma said that RSS and BJP believe that they can take their party forward by creating problems and destruction and perhaps it was because of this habit that BJP president Nitin Gadkari went on to equate Vivekanand with a terrorist.

He demanded that Election Commission should immediately ban parties which indulge in such acts as people of the country have identified them and were not interested in giving them another chance.

Gadkari yesterday denied comparing Swami Vivekananda with underworld don Dawood Ibrahim and expressed "sincere regrets" over the hurt to public sentiments caused by his remarks.

 

"I would like to reiterate that I never compared Swami Vivekananda with anyone. I had absolutely no no intention to project Swami Vivekananda in bad light.

"If my words about Swami Vivekananda have hurt the public sentiments in any manner, I express my sincere regrets," he said in a statement.