Nepal, April 28, 2015: Sakshi Maharaj is back in headlines, now for linking Rahul Gandhi to the Nepal earthquake. Trivialising and politicising the great tragedy, he said to the reporters in Haridwar, “Rahul Gandhi eats beef, and goes to the holy shrine (Kedarnath) without purifying himself. The earthquake was bound to happen.”

The death toll has crossed over 4,000 and Nepal PM Sushil Koirala has said that it may reach 10,000.

The Bharatiya Janata Party’s MP from Unnao has received flak for his communal comments.

An English daily has quoted Congress spokesperson Sushmita Dev saying the incident unfortunate and petty and said that the ‘cohorts of the PM and BJP’ are trying to ‘communalise and politicise’ the tragedy.  She said that Sakshi Maharaj not just ‘denigrated’ the wake victim but devotees visiting the Kedarnath temple. She demanded that PM Modi and Amit Shah take action against the MP and stop the spread of ‘rabid politics’.

Sakshi has repeatedly courted controversy. The lawmaker had earlier asked Hindu women to have at least four children, described Mahatma Gandhi’s assassin Nathuram Godse as a “patriot” and more recently demanded that those not following family planning should be stripped of their voting right.

- dna