Rahul Gandhi sparks outrage with ‘naach-gana at Ayodhya Ram mandir inauguration’ remark, BJP fumes

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi sparked a war of words on Friday after questioning the guest list for the Ayodhya Ram mandir inauguration. The remarks have since drawn flak from several quarters with the BJP accusing the Opposition party of being ‘anti-Lord Ram’.

“You opened the temple and told the President that since you are a tribal you can't come inside, you're not allowed. After that they invited Amitabh Bachchan, Adani, Ambani, but did not allow a labourer, did you see a worker (there) or a farmer? Naach-gana chal raha hai (there was song and dance)…this is your reality,” reports quoted Gandhi as saying during a Hisar rally.

The remarks came less than a day after Gandhi lashed out at the RSS at a separate poll rally and claimed that the group posed a threat to the Constitution.

“I am shocked by the kind of statements that Rahul Gandhi has come up with to refer to Lord Ram's temple and the consecration event as an event of a dance... Why is the Congress party so anti-Lord Ram? Nobody senior from the Congress party went and attended it,” countered BJP leader Nalin Kohli.

He also claimed that the previous UPA government had dubbed Lord Ram an ‘imaginary figure’ in an affidavit in the Supreme Court. Kohli alleged that the Congress party had “always attacked anything that has to do with the Ayodhya movement”.

“An ally of the Congress party called Sanatana Dharma a disease... With this kind of statement, they are sending a clear message that they have no belief in Lord Ram and for the sake of votes, they can even call something as important as the consecration of Lord Ram's temple to be a dance event. It's highly condemnable and very unfortunate. It would hurt the sentiments of crores of Sanatana Dharma followers and Hindus across the world,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)