Congress pursuing appeasement, vote bank politics: Rajasthan BJP chief on Dotasra's remarks against Maharana Pratap

Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], February 19 (ANI): Lashing out at Rajasthan Congress chief Govind Singh Dotasra for his remarks on Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap, Bharatiya Janata Party state president Satish Poonia on Friday said Congress does politics of appeasement to woo a certain section of society.
Speaking to ANI, Poonia said, "This is not the first time Congress leaders have spoken such a statement. It has been like a tradition of the Congress party. Congress is pursuing appeasement and vote bank politics wherever possible."
"History is being distorted by Congress. In the eyes of Congress, Mughal ruler Akbar is great but in the eyes of the people of the country, Maharana Pratap's will remain great," he added.
Former Rajasthan Education Minister and state Congress President Govind Singh Dotasara stirred a political row after he said that the war between Rajput ruler Maharana Pratap and Mughal Emperor Akbar was a "power struggle" but Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) painted it as a "religious" war.
Addressing party workers at a district-level training camp in Nagaur on Wednesday, Dostara said, "In school syllabus, BJP portrayed the war between Maharana Pratap and Akbar as a religious war between Hindus and Muslims. It was a power struggle. They see everything through the Hindu-Muslim prism."
Congress has received backlash from some BJP leaders after Dostara's statement alleging the grand old party for indulging in appeasement politics.
Former chief minister and BJP leader Vasundhara Raje reiterated that the war was a struggle for "national security." She also demanded an apology from Congress over Dostara's controversial statement.
"The Congress has challenged the self-respecting history of Mewar by describing the struggle of Maharana Pratap and Akbar as a fight for power only. Maharana Pratap continued his lifelong resolve to protect the motherland," Raje tweeted in Hindi today.
In a series of tweets, she added, "The war of Maharana Pratap with Akbar was not a power struggle, but a struggle for national security. For the sake of self-respect of Mewar, he even ate loaves of grass in the forests, Congress should publicly apologize to the public for insulting such a mighty warrior."
The Battle of Haldighati was fought in 1576 between the armies of Maharana Pratap, the Rana of Mewar, and Mughal emperor Akbar. (ANI)