The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has cautioned the people that if Congress comes to power, it might clamp a ban on uttering the word “Hindu”.

Calling Congress “Bhashmasura” (a mythological character with the power to burn up anyone and reduce to ashes), the saffron party warned its ally Samajwadi Party that it would soon be eliminated.

The statements were issued by the party’s Uttar Pradesh unit here on Sunday during a day-long meeting of its working committee the concluding session of which will be addressed by party President J P Nadda.

In the political resolution issued on the occasion, the BJP attributed the setback in the Lok Sabha polls to confusion created by the Opposition among the voters even though the party performed very well by grabbing 41% of the vote share.

The resolution reads: “Swami Vivekananda, the inspiration for the youth, had once said that we should say with pride that we are Hindus. But recently, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Rahul Gandhi said that the people who call themselves Hindus indulge in violence, spreading lies and hatred 24 hours a day. His statement is an insult to the entire Hindu community of India and the Hindu society is hurt. No one has ever dared to communally describe the majority Hindus of the country as anarchists and violent people in the sacred temple of Lok Sabha so far”.

Likening the statement to the imposition of a ban on calling oneself a Hindu, the resolution said he is saying this while being the leader of the Opposition. If he had come to power, he would have banned the word “Hindu”.

Condemning his statement, the working committee demanded that of Rahul Gandhi should apologise to the entire Hindu community for hurting their sentiments.

The resolution lauded UP Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for “completely destroying organised crime in the state” and maintaining law and order in UP setting an example for the entire country. His popular government is engaged in making the state the best in the country where there is no social discrimination.

Meanwhile, in his presidential address, UP BJP president Bhupendra Singh Choudhary said, “Akhilesh Yadav ji, I am warning you, Congress is Bhashmasura and will eliminate you very soon. The party has set its sights on your Muslim votes. There is no scope in democracy for the thinking and working style of Congress. Congress has an ecosystem that raises questions about the winners by declaring the losers as winners. It has zero seats in 13 states. The Congress party does not win on its own votes but on the votes of other parties.”

Blaming the dynastic and casteist forces like the SP and Congress for the BJP’s losses in the Lok Sabha polls, he said the two parties tried to convert the people of the state into casteist arenas by spreading rumours and misconceptions.

“Congress and SP found a new way to get the votes of Muslim voters by blackmailing them and making them victims of their agenda in which they got partial success. Every BJP worker should go from door to door to expose their lies and rumours to the public to thwart their divisive agenda. We have to move forward continuously for the benefit of the entire society and have to embrace those who have gone astray,” he added.

The UP BJP president pointed out that the SP and Congress together received 43.05 per cent votes in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections whereas the BJP alone polled 41.37 percent votes. “If we add up the votes of our allies, the SP-Congress is behind us. With the lure of Rs 8,500, they have secured 1.68 per cent more Bahujan votes.”

He alleged whenever Congress came to power, it left no stone unturned to eliminate those who opposed it. It used Section 356 to topple governments the most in the country. “In the last three elections, Congress tried to ally with different parties in the state but dumped them after serving its interests. They may have taken the votes of Dalits by lying but rather than working for their welfare they will exploit them,” Choudhury added.

He said the Constitution is under threat from the Congress, a party which has amended the Constitution a number of times and dismissed democratically-elected governments the most.”