'Conspiracy going on to turn India into Bangladesh': Indian minister alleges

India's Union Minister Giriraj Singh has strongly criticized the country's opposition Congress, saying that this ancient political party has engaged in a conspiracy against India. He alleged that the party aimed to "turn India into Bangladesh". Giriraj Singh made this complaint in an interview given to the Indian news agency Indo-Asian News Service (IANS) on Monday.

The Union minister linked the recent attack on Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Gujarat's Surat to an alleged conspiracy, saying the attack on Ganesh Puja was part of the Congress's toolkit.

Regarding the incident of stone pelting during Ganesh Chaturthi celebrations in Surat, Minister Giriraj Singh said, “...have Hindus ever pelted stones at Tajiya in Surat or in any part of the country? Just two days ago we saw how the Ganesha idol was attacked in Bangladesh. Do Congress people want to turn India into Bangladesh?''

He said, “... this Congress conspiracy aims to turn India into Bangladesh and the Ganesh Chaturthi attack in Surat is the result of that conspiracy. This attack on Ganesh Puja is part of the Congress toolkit...''

• What happened in Surat?
An idol of Hindu deity Ganesha was damaged after some people pelted stones at the pandal during the ongoing Ganapati festival in Gujarat's Surat city, police said on Monday. Police arrested some Muslim teenagers on suspicion of involvement in this incident in Syedpura area of ​​Surat late on Sunday night. Later, about 300 people gathered at Lalgate police station to protest the detention of these teenagers.

Surat Police Commissioner Anupam Singh Gehlat told reporters that in front of the police station, members of the two groups threw bricks and stones at each other. During this time, some members of the police were injured and a car was damaged.

He said that the police resorted to lathicharge and fired tearshells to disperse the crowd to bring the situation under control. Besides, at least 32 people have been arrested from the spot. Two FIRs have been registered in the police station in this incident.