New Delhi, Jul 10 (IANS): The BJP on Wednesday strongly criticised the proposal by Karnataka Deputy Chief Minister, DK Shivakumar, to change the name of Ramnagar District to Bengaluru South and said that the Congress' "hatred" towards Hindus and "indifference" towards Lord Ram is reaching new extremes.

The BJP is also accusing the Congress of benefiting the real estate lobby.

BJP National Spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla while criticising the proposal alleged that the Congress had earlier questioned the existence of Lord Ram and tried to hinder the construction of the Ram temple.

“The Congress has talked about reconstructing the Babri Masjid, and recently Rahul Gandhi stated that the INDIA bloc alliance defeated the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. Now, a conspiracy is being hatched by the Congress and its Deputy Chief Minister DK Shivakumar in Karnataka to change the name of Ramnagar District,” he said.

“The Congress has so much hatred for Lord Ram that the party calls Hindus a violent group of people, denies the existence of Lord Ram, and refers to Sanatan Dharma as a disease. The party also talks about Hindu terrorism and now wants to change the name of Ramnagar. This reflects their mentality and thinking,” he claimed.