BJP chief Amit Shah on Friday, while addressing a gathering in Raipur, referred to Mahatma Gandhi as a “bahut chatur baniya” (a very clever Baniya – the trading caste), a statement that has gone viral on social media platforms. The BJP chief, while addressing a gathering in Raipur, even targeted Congress by saying that it had never been a party based on principles. “People of various ideologies and thinking associated themselves with Congress to gain independence. Congress didn’t have any ideology or set of principles and it was only used as a special purpose vehicle to secure freedom. And therefore, Mahatma Gandhi, with a lot of foresight, he was a very shrewd baniya, he knew what was going to happen in future. He had said immediately after the Independence that Congress should be dissolved,” Shah was quoted saying by PTI. The statement as always caused some ripples on micro-blogging website Twitter.

Here is how people reacted to Amit Shah’s ‘chatur baniya‘ statement:


On the other hand, claiming Amit Shah’s statement is an insult to the father of the nation, Congress demanded apology from the BJP President and PM Narendra Modi on Saturday. Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala targeted the character and ideology of the ruling party by saying that instead of fighting casteism BJP has even reffered to the father of the nation with his caste, leaving a question behind “Where will these people take the country?” He demanded an apology from Amit Shah, BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi to the country, the families of freedom fighters and every citizen for insulting the freedom movement and the father of the nation.