Congress leader Salman Khurshid's home vandalised after book sparks controversy

• Salman Khurshid slams BJP, Hindutva groups in new book.
• Book sparks controversy, invites criticism from BJP, Hindutva groups.
• Twenty-one people booked for setting Khudrshid's home ablaze.

Indian National Congress leader Salman Khurshid's home was vandalised and set on fire on Monday, the country's media reported, after the politician's latest book on Ayodhya was published, sparking controversy as it had drawn a parallel between Hindutva groups and extremist organisations.

His Nanital home could be seen set ablaze in a video that the politician shared on Facebook, with separate images showing charred doors, broken windows, and tall flames engulfing the building. 

"I hoped to open these doors to my friends who have left this calling card. Am I still wrong to say this cannot be Hinduism?" the politician wrote in his Facebook post.

"So such is debate now. Shame is too ineffective a word. Besides I still hope that we can reason together one day and agree to disagree if not more," he wrote in another Facebook post.

Twenty-one people have been booked in the case, a police official told ANI news agency.

"Rakesh Kapil and 20 others have been booked. Strict action will be taken against perpetrators," he told the news agency.

The politician has come under fire from BJP and Hindutva groups after he compared Hindutva with terrorist groups Boko Haram and Daesh in his book "Sunrise Over Ayodhya: Nationhood in Our Times", The Wire reported.

The extremist groups have objected to a particular passage in the book, which states: "Sanatan Dharma and classical Hinduism known to sages and saints were being pushed aside by a robust version of Hindutva, by all standards a political version similar to the jihadist Islam of groups like [Daesh] and Boko Haram of recent years.”

Backing his fellow party leader, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi asked people to differentiate between "Hinduism", "Hindutva", the BJP, the publication said.