Yogi Adityanath has slammed Rahul Gandhi for sitting in a namaz posture at the Somnath temple. (Image: ANI)

Yogi Adityanath has once again hit out at Rahul Gandhi over his religious optics in Gujarat in 2017 and said that when the Congress leader went to the Somnath temple, he sat as if he was offering namaz and that exposed his lack of faith in Hinduism.

According to ANI, speaking at a rally in Ahmedabad, Yogi Adityanath said, "It is the people of Gujarat who exposed Rahul Gandhi. He went to Somnath temple and sat there as if offering namaz. The temple priest had to scold him that this is a temple, you should sit cross-legged."

"This is why I say nakal ke liye bhi akal chahiye (One has to have brains even to imitate someone)," quipped Yogi Adityanath.

Rahul Gandhi went on a temple-hopping spree during the Gujarat assembly election campaign in 2017. At the Somnath temple in Gujarat, Rahul entered his name in the visitor's book as 'non-Hindu' and drew severe backlash from political rivals.

Later he courted further controversy when he called himself a "shiv-bhakt" and a "janeu dhari Brahmin".

With the Lok Sabha elections on the anvil, Yogi Adityanath has gone back to picking on Rahul Gandhi over his religious beliefs.

He also targeted Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, who is extensively campaigning in Uttar Pradesh and had recently conducted a boat ride on Ganga and stopped over at several ghats to address public gatherings.

Yogi Adityanath said, "24 crore devotees had come to the Kumbh Mela. When Congress got to know that there was such large turnout, their new generation [Priyanka Gandhi] dropped in too. They used to say Ganga is not clean, but when they saw people consuming its water, they did the same."

Earlier, Union Water Resources Minister Nitin Gadkari, too, criticised her and said that she could take the boat ride on Ganga because he had created a waterway on the river.

Priyanka Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi are now expected to tour Ayodhya ahead of the Lok Sabha elections.