Rajasthan Cong chief says BJP portrayed war between Maharana Pratap, Akbar as 'religious'; gets flak

Nagaur (Rajasthan) [India], February 18 (ANI): 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 following appeasement politics.
BJP state president Satish Poonia said that the war between Maharana Pratap and Akbar was a fight for "nationalism."
"It was not a power struggle, but a fight of nationalism. You have already given controversial statements on this matter. Why is there so much fear in your Congress party of losing Muslim votes?" Poonia tweeted on Thursday.
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 the Mughal emperor Akbar's forces. (ANI)