Thiruvananthapuram: The Kerala unit of Congress shot itself in the foot reacting to PM Modi’s meeting with Pope Francis with the comment "Finally, the Pope got a chance to meet God."
The state unit of the party said it was ‘unreservedly’ apologizing to the Christian community after the BJP termed the Congress’ post on Sunday an "insult" to the Christian community, NDTV reported.
"We apologize unreservedly if this post has caused any emotional or psychological distress to Christians," the party reportedly said in a post.
"This tweet by the Congress equates Prime Minister Modi to Lord Jesus. This is absolutely uncalled for and is an insult to the Christian community, who revere Jesus. It is shameful that Congress has stopped to this level," Union Minister and BJP leader George Kurian was quoted as saying.
BJP state chief K Surendran was quick to react to the post saying that the Congress was mocking the Pope and the Christian community.
"The @INCIndia Kerala "X" handle, seemingly run by radical Islamists or Urban Naxals, continues to post derogatory and humiliating content against nationalistic leaders. Now, it has even stooped to mocking the respected Pope and the Christian community. It's certain that the AICC General Secretary from Kerala, @kcvenugopalmp, is aware of this. The question is, what are @RahulGandhi and @kharge's interests in supporting this?" said reportedly Surendran.
The Kerala Congress issued an apology last night and said insulting any religion was not its tradition.
The Kerala unit of the grand old party issued an apology last night saying that ‘The entire people of this country know that it is not the tradition of the Indian National Congress to insult and disparage any religion, religious priests and idols.’
It further added that ‘Congress is a movement that unites all religions and faiths and leads the people forward in a friendly atmosphere. No Congress worker would even entertain the remotest thought of insulting the Pope, whom Christians around the world see as God-like. However, the Congress has no qualms about mocking Narendra Modi, who insults the believers of this country by calling himself God.’