New Delhi, Aug 11: Rajasthan BJP MLA Gyan Dev Aahuja, who is known for making controversial remarks, on Friday sparked a new controversy as he said that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru was not a pandit because he used to eat beef and pork. Aahuja, who represents Ramgarh Assembly constituency in Alwar district, said it was the Congress that added the word pandit to Nehru's name.

“Nehru was not a pandit, one who ate beef and pork, cannot be a pandit. Congress has put pundit in front of his name,” Aahuja said. He also accused the Congress of playing politics in the name of caste and religion. The BJP legislator was reacting to the Congress Rajasthan chief Sachin Pilot's statement wherein he said that Rahul Gandhi learned to visit temples from his grandmother Indira Gandhi. (ALSO READ: Mahatma Gandhi Wanted Muhammad Ali Jinnah to Become India's First PM, But Jawaharlal Nehru Refused: Dalai Lama)

“Rahul Gandhi has never visited temples with Indira Gandhi. If my claim is wrong, I will quit my post or Sachin Pilot should quit his post,” Aahuja was quoted as saying. “Pilot, Gehlot or Ghulam Nabi should tell that when was the 'yagyopaveet' sanskar of Rahul done. A 'janeu' (sacred thread) is worn only after the yagyopaveet sanskar is over," the controversial MLA added. Aahuja has been targetting the Nehru-Gandhi family for long.

Recently, Aahuja recently made headlines for saying that Hindu girls were being lured into love jihad and forced to change their religion. He had courted controversy when he said that cow slaughter was a bigger crime than terrorism. "Cow slaughter is a bigger crime than terrorism. Terrorists kill two to three people, but when a cow is killed, sentiments of crores of Hindus get hurt," he had said.

(The above story first appeared on LatestLY on Aug 11, 2018 08:29 AM IST. For more news and updates on politics, world, sports, entertainment and lifestyle, log on to our website latestly.com).