Congress leader Gourav Vallabh on Thursday claimed that the meeting of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat with the All India Imam Organization president is the impact of the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra, and asked the RSS chief to join Rahul Gandhi in uniting the country.

The RSS chief, who has been meeting Muslim leaders in an unprecedented outreach, on Thursday visited a mosque and a madrasa in Delhi, and met the chief cleric of All India Imam Organisation, Dr Umer Ahmed Ilyasi, who called the RSS chief “the Father of the Nation”.

Speaking to reporters, Vallabh said that the results of the party’s Bharat Jodo Yatra are evident from the fact that for the first time Bhagwat visited a madrasa.

“Only 15 days have passed since the Bharat Jodo Yatra has begun and the results are out. A BJP spokesperson said ‘(Nathuram) Godse Murdabad‘ on television. Mohan Bhagwat went to the house of a person of another religion. This is the impact of Bharat Jodo Yatra,” said Vallabh.

He further said that by the time the Bharat Jodo Yatra is over, the hatred and the divisions created by the ruling dispensation will disappear from the country.

“We would like to urge Mohan Bhagwat that if this 15-day yatra has had such an impact on you, you should participate in the Bharat Jodo Yatra for an hour and walk with Rahul Gandhi with a tricolour in hand,” he added.

Congress leader Pawan Khera too tweeted, “It has only been 15 days since the Bharat Jodo Yatra has started and BJP spokesperson started saying “Godse Murdabad“, ministers have become concerned over the hatred spread through the media and Bhagwat has reached out to imams. Let’s see what happens next.”

Yesterday, after visiting a mosque at Kasturba Gandhi Marg in Delhi, Mr Bhagwat went to the Azad Market Madrasa Tajweedul Quran in Old Delhi, interacted with the children there and also had a piece of advice for them.

Madrasa director Mahmudul Hasan told ANI: “He stayed inside the Madrasa for about an hour and met the teacher and the children.”

With inputs from NDTV