We laid foundation for Ram Mandir, asserts Congress

Hyderabad: The Congress party which had been on back foot regarding construction of Ram Mandir at the site where once historical Babri Masjid stood in Ayodhya, on Saturday declared that the credit for the same goes to the grand old party.

Reminding the BJP that the credit for the construction of Ram temple at the site where once Babri Masjid stood in Ayodhya, doesn’t go to the saffron party alone, Congress on Saturday said that the grand old party actually paved the way for the same.

Speaking to media persons at Gandhi Bhavan, Congress MLC Jeevan Reddy ridiculed the PM’s statement that the INDIA bloc would run a bulldozer over the Ram mandir, and said that it was then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi opened the gates of the Babri Masjid in in 1986 and later in 1989 he performed Silanyas for the Rame Temple. Even the permission for laying the foundation was given by Rajiv Gandhi. “It does not befit Modi’s position to instigate people in the name of religion to win polls. Had the Congress returned to power when Rajiv Gandhi was alive, the temple’s construction would have been completed during his lifetime,” he explained.

He felt that had the former PM Rajiv Gandhi remained alive, the temple’s construction would have materialised in his next tenure as PM.

While pointing out how the religious zeal vis-à-vis Lord Ram and Krishna got stimulated following airing of Ramayana and Mahabharata over Doordarshan under Rajiv Gandhi’s tenure as PM, Jeevan Reddy questioned the way BJP was trying to take credit for everything.

He reminded BJP that it was the Supreme Court which gave the green signal for construction of the temple. He further said that it was Rajiv Gandhi who drew inspiration from lord Rama, who as a just administrator set an example in the country.