Gwalior (Madhya Pradesh) [India], March 18 (ANI): The Congress party has distanced itself from leader Rekha Vinod Jain's remarks comparing Hindu deity Parshuram with Mughal ruler Aurangzeb, stating that her views do not align with the party's ideology. Jain has been served a show-cause notice following the controversy.

Reacting to the row, Congress leader Suresh Raje said, '...This is not our party's ideology. This might be her personal opinion; Congress party has no relation with it...'

Rekha Vinod Jain, a Congress leader from Madhya Pradesh's Jabalpur district, was issued a show-cause notice for her social media post drawing a comparison between Parshuram and Aurangzeb.

The notice was issued by Saurabh Sharma, president of the Jabalpur City Congress, who has sought a reply within 48 hours.

'You have posted on social media through your Facebook ID against Parshuram, the deity of Hindu religion, and compared him with Aurangzeb... You have violated not only the Indian Constitution but also the Constitution of the Congress party, which has tarnished the secular image of the party. It has violated the secular policy of the party, and the act comes under the purview of indiscipline,' stated the show-cause notice issued on Sunday.

The notice further highlights that the Congress party is a secular-based party, which respects every religion and society in India equally.

'On the basis of the act done, this show cause notice is issued to you and within 48 hours of receiving it, you should publicly apologise for your act in relation to the post and send your reply. In case you do not publicly apologize within 48 hours and fail to send a satisfactory reply, disciplinary action will be taken against you as per the Constitution of the Congress party,' it added.

Notably, in a post on Facebook on March 12, which has now been deleted, Congress leader Rekha Vinod Jain compared the personality of Aurangzeb with Parshuram, stating Aurangzeb beheaded his brother and presented it to his father, while Parshuram beheaded his mother.

'...Aurangzeb beheaded his brother and presented it to his father, while Parshuram beheaded his mother...Aurangzeb was cruel, no one considers him an ideal; Muslims also do not name their children Aurangzeb. But the followers of Hindutva even build temples of Parshuram...,' she stated in the said post.

Later, the Congress leader deleted the post and issued an apology, claiming it was shared due to ignorance and expressing regret for any hurt caused.

'A post was shared from my wall due to ignorance, for which I regret. There is no intention to hurt the sentiments of any community. As soon as it came to my notice, I removed that post from the wall. Also, I apologize to everyone for hurting your feelings,' she stated in her Facebook post. (ANI)