Jashpur: Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath Thursday stoked a controversy by making a veiled attack against former Congress president Sonia Gandhi, saying "agents from Italy" facilitated religious conversions of local tribals when the party was in power in the state. Addressing a campaign rally here for the second phase of Assembly polls in Chhattisgarh, Adityanath said, "Italy se ayatit saudagar" (agents imported from Italy), undertook "anti-national" activities like conversion of tribals in the state.
His "Italy se ayatit saudagar" remark was a veiled reference to the origins of Sonia Gandhi.
Attacking Congress for appeasement of "minorities, Adityanath said the 'anti-national activity of religious conversion' reached its peak when the party ruled the state.
"Anti-national activities were at its peak. Dilip Singh Judeo (late BJP MP) took this menace head on and stopped Jashpur from becoming another Bastar," Adityanath said.