New Delhi,  How will the Congress counter the BJP's ideology of neo-Hindutva? Senior Congress leader and Rajya Sabha MP Vivek Tankha has the answer. He said that the time for Hindutva is over and now is the time to focus on real issues which affect millions of people.

"The tide is turning now. We can see this in the local elections of Madhya Pradesh. I am from the Hindi heartland. I can see it happening. No one in south India gives importance to the BJP. The issue of Hindutva is not affecting the Panchayat elections in MP," Tankha told IANS.

What is the strategy of the Congress to fight the BJP's Hindutva? Tankha said the "Congress will always raise issues which concern the nation. The BJP will raise its own issues, but ultimately it is the people who have to decide what is in their best interest. The day people will understand about the BJP's divisive agenda, you will see its support base dramatically dwindling. People will have to start coming back to the Congress fold."

"Ram Mandir and other issues raised by the BJP have had an impact only in the Hindi heartland. But now people's inclination is towards real issues. It can be gauged from the recent protests against the government's new scheme, Agnipath."

To a question on the strategy for Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan, Tankha said, "We cannot asses the situation in states like Madhya Pradesh, etc by sitting in Delhi. We have to go there and listen to the people, only then we will be able to see the situation with our own eyes. People's priorities are changing and it is not in favour of the BJP."

On the question of using bulldozers, he said, "The Supreme Court has also raised questions on the use of bulldozers. The BJP adopts a strategy which can divide people, but when it knows that the public is against it, it stops."

On the Gyanvapi controversy, Tankha said that "The issue is in the court, it is not an issue of a political party."