Rahul Gandhi meets M Karunanidhi at his Gopalapuram residence on Sunday.

CHENNAI: A day after opposition leaders came together for a show of unity at DMK president M Karunanidhi's 94th birthday celebrations , Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi said the opposition stood united to "fight and defeat" the BJP and the RSS.

He told functionaries at the state party headquarters that he was reading the Upanishads and the Bhagwad Gita to take on the RSS and the BJP , said party sources.

"I ask them (RSS men), my friend, you are doing this, you are oppressing people, but it is written in the Upanishad that all people are the same; and how come you are contradicting what your own religion says," he was quoted as saying.

He alleged that BJP did not fundamentally "understand India," and that they understood "only Nagpur," the headquarters of the RSS.

Gandhi said he had a special connect with the state and that he has "decided to start watching Tamil movies," and "read about the culture of Tamil Nadu people."

He said the TN Congress should be able to take advantage of the "political confusion" that prevailed in the state. "Tamil Nadu, in my mind is very important. Here you have the DMK, the AIADMK, but overall in Tamil Nadu, my feeling and understanding is that there is a political confusion," he told functionaries.

At a press briefing following the meeting, he said, "The opposition stands united. We will fight together and defeat BJP and RSS." TNCC president S Thirunavukkarasar, Puducherry CM V Narayanasamy, former TNCC chief EVKS Elangovan, Congress Legislature Party leader K R Ramasamy, MLA S Vijayadharani, Congress leader Nagma, national spokesperson Kushboo and others were present at the meeting.

The opposition, he said, would fight against the attempts of the BJP and the RSS to impose their ideology on a country that celebrates diversity. Noting that people of Tamil Nadu were wedded to Tamil culture, he said it needed to be respected. "Each Indian state has its own culture, its own way of thinking, its own way of expressing itself and its own food," he said.

Against the background of its ally DMK accusing the Centre of "imposing" Hindi on the state, the Congress vice-president said all languages needed to be respected. Cultural differences, he said, are "India's strength ... not weakness".

He also charged the Centre with indulging in "cultural imperialism." Responding to a query as to whether the BJP led Centre was trying to "arm twist" the TN government, he alleged that the BJP was "not only arm-twisting" but was also running the state.

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In Video: I'm reading Gita to take on BJP: Rahul Gandhi