Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, while addressing an election rally in Khategaon, Madhya Pradesh, accused the Congress of opposing the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya and suggested that the temple could have been built as early as 1947 if the Congress had been willing.
“The Congress could have built Ram Mandir in Ayodhya in 1947. Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had wanted it, but the Congress leadership rejected it,” said Yogi.
“Congress kept opposing Ayodhya’s Ram Mandir, and when the agitation began, they started saying that Ram never existed… A party that claims to be the oldest one, if it dismisses the heroes and symbol of inspiration, they shouldn’t be allowed to stay,” he said as per ANI.
Yogi Adityanath’s comments were in response to Kamal Nath, the Chief of the Congress party in Madhya Pradesh, who had suggested that the BJP couldn’t take complete credit for the construction of the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. Kamal Nath had also mentioned in an interview that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi, a Congress leader, “got the locks opened” of the temporary Ram temple at the disputed Babri Masjid site in 1986 to allow Hindus to worship there.
“I’ve said whatever I had to say. Ram Mandir belongs to every person in the country,” Kamal Nath told ANI recently.
Yogi Adityanath, in his speech, criticized the Congress’s historical leadership, stating, “Naxalism and terrorism were posing a great challenge, and corruption was also rampant. At that time, instead of having concern for the nation, Congress leadership was concerned with one family. Congress cannot be separated from that one family.”
Madhya Pradesh is one of the five states set to undergo elections in a single phase on November 17, with the counting of votes scheduled for December 3. Voters in the state will choose legislators for the 230 Assembly constituencies.
