Posting a video of past remarks by Rahul Gandhi on Hindutva, Hinduism and religious figures, the BJP alleged the Congress leader "pretends" to be a Hindu when elections are near.

This comes days after Mr. Gandhi posted a picture of a 'Tripund Tilak', a sacred mark associated with Lord Shiva, and captioned it 'Satyam Shivam Sundaram', after he was acquitted by the MP-MLA court in Sultanpur in the defamation case related to his remarks against the then BJP president Amit Shah in 2018.

The BJP shared a video on social media that first showed Mr. Gandhi's X post, followed by clips from his speeches on Hindutva and Hinduism as a comparison. The song 'Kya Hua Tera Wada' played in the background.

"If you hate Hindus so much, why pretend to be a Hindu every time elections come around, Rahul ji?" read the caption on X.

In one of the clips, Mr. Gandhi is heard saying, "We have to throw these Hindutvavadis (Hindutva supporters) out once again."

In another, he says, "Those who call themselves Hindus are engaged in violence, violence, violence, 24 hours a day. Hatred, hatred, hatred. Lies, lies, lies."

"People go to temples, bow their heads and worship the goddess. Yet, these very same people harass you on buses. These very same people oppress you," he is heard saying in another clip.

The video also features the Congress leader saying, "All are mythological figures. Lord Ram belonged to that era, right?"

The BJP, in another post on X, questioned the Congress over its criticism of the process of appointment of chief election commissioners, claiming that during the Congress rule, there was neither a law nor a committee for selecting election commissioners and that the Prime Minister and the Cabinet decided the names without consulting the leader of opposition.

"Did you know? During Congress rule, there was neither any law nor any committee for selecting the chief election commissioner. The name was decided at the whim of the prime minister and the cabinet; the leader of the opposition wasn't even consulted," it said.

"Today, the same Congress is questioning a transparent and impartial system," the BJP said, asking Gandhi if his current stance on the functioning of the CEC and the poll panel was concern for democracy or the result of being away from power.

The BJP's post comes amid an ongoing political row over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of electoral rolls and allegations of voter deletions.

The Congress and other opposition parties have been demanding the resignation of Chief Election Commissioner Gyanesh Kumar over alleged irregularities in the functioning of the poll panel.