india

Updated: Sep 18, 2019 03:56 IST

Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha member Digvijaya Singh on Tuesday stoked a controversy by alleging “people in saffron robes are committing rapes…rapes are taking place even in temples”.

Addressing a seers’ congregation in Bhopal organised by the spiritual department of the MP government, Singh said, “In saffron robes, people are selling ‘churan’ (befooling the public). Rapes are being done by those in saffron robes…in temples... ”.

Terming his remarks “highly objectionable and condemnable”, BJP spokesperson Rajneesh Agrawal said, “He has again dared to defame the saffron.” However, the state Congress defended Singh and said, “He didn’t target the entire saint community”. “He must have said so in the context of people like Chinmayanand who, in the guise of a saint, abuse religion...,” party spokesperson Shobha Oza said.