Controversy erupts after Rahul Gandhi's meeting with priest arrested for hate speech

NAGERCOIL: As the Bharat Jodo Yatra enters its fourth day, the BJP has drawn controversy over Rahul Gandhi's meeting with a priest who made hate speech against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Stalin and other ministers.

Priest George Ponnaiah was arrested in July last year for giving a hate speech against the move to stop the illegal construction of mosques. Rahul Gandhi met the priest on Friday. Later, BJP national spokesperson Shehzad Poonawala tweeted the video of the meeting between Rahul and the priest.

In this clip, Rahul Gandhi can be heard asking, "Jesus Christ is a form of God? Is that right?" to which the Tamil Nadu priest George Ponniah replied, "He is the real God."

Ponniah goes on to say, "God reveals him(self) as a man, a real person...not like Shakti...so we see a human person."

Ponniah has a history of delivering provocative statements that have landed him in trouble in the past. He was arrested last year in July in Kallikudi, Madurai for allegedly making a 'hate speech' against Prime Minister Narendra Modi, Home Minister Amit Shah, DMK Minister and others.