BHOPAL: Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh, who was often targeted by the BJP for allegedly using the term Hindu or saffron terror, has said the word Hindutva does not exist in his dictionary. While speaking to the media in Bhopal, from where he is contesting the ongoing Lok Sabha elections,  the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister said the word Hindutva did not exist for him. "Why do you use the word Hindutva? The word does not exist in my dictionary," he said.


Amid the political row over the term Hindu terrorism, the Congress had pointed earlier that it was used by Union minister R K Singh when he was home secretary. Singh was a Union home secretary during the UPA regime and later joined the BJP and became minister.

Apparently referring to Singh, Digvijaya claimed that the BJP made the person who used the term "Hindu terror" in official parlance a Union minister.

"I think they do not have the knowledge of Hindu civilisation. The person who, as home secretary, issued a statement with the word Hindu terror was given Lok Sabha ticket by the BJP and was made a Union minister," Singh told reporters here.

"Will (BJP chief) Amit Shah speak about it?" the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister asked.

Bringing its Hindutva plank to the fore, the BJP has fielded Malegaon blast case accused Sadhvi Pragya Singh Thakur in Lok Sabha elections from Bhopal against Digvijaya Singh. Out on bail, Thakur has been discharged by a court on charges under the stringent Maharashtra Control of Organised Crime Act (MCOCA) in the 2008 case but is still facing trial under other criminal provisions.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday defended the BJP's decision to field Thakur from Bhopal, saying it was a symbolic answer to all those who falsely bracketed the rich Hindu civilisation as "terrorist".

Modi was apparently referring to Digvijaya, who is the Congress' candidate from Bhopal. Digvijaya Singh has been a bitter critic of the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), the ideological guide of the BJP, and had allegedly linked it to 2008 Mumbai terror attack carried out by Pakistani terrorists.