New Delhi:
Union Minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat on Tuesday hit out at the Congress saying the party that denied the existence of Lord Ram is now signing his praise after taking a ‘U-turn’ over the issue.
His comments came after Congress leader Priyanka Gandhi Vadra said Lord Ram belongs to everyone and that she hoped the ground-breaking ceremony of the temple in Ayodhya becomes a celebration of national unity.
“The Congress’ statement on Lord Ram is a historic U-turn. The Congress filed an affidavit (in the Supreme Court) denying the existence of Lord Ram. It is his magic (leela) that the general secretary of the political party that denied his existence is praising him today,” Shekhawat said in a statement in Hindi.
He was referring to the affidavit filed by the then UPA government in the Supreme Court in 2007 saying there was no historical proof of the existence of Ram. The minister said the Ram temple issue is linked to the faith of crores of people. Ahead of the ground-breaking ceremony of the temple in Ayodhya on Wednesday, Priyanka Gandhi Vadra, the Congress general secretary for Uttar Pradesh, said Ramayana has left an indelible mark on the civilisation of the world. “The ‘bhoomi poojan’ ceremony of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya has been scheduled for August 5. Hope this event becomes a celebration of national unity, brotherhood and cultural harmony in accordance with the message of Lord Ram and with his blessings,” she said.
On withdrawal of sedition charges by the Rajasthan government in the cases of alleged horse-trading of Congress MLAs, Shekhawat said this was a political conspiracy by the Congress government in the state to book a Cabinet minister under such charges. The Special Operations Group of Rajasthan police, probing into the cases of alleged horse-trading of the Congress MLAs aimed at toppling the Ashok Gehlot government, has transferred them to the state’s Anti-Corruption Bureau, saying no case of sedition is made out.
Reacting to it, Shekhawat said, “The political conspiracy to file a sedition case against a cabinet minister in a fabricated manner was done by the head of the Congress government of Rajasthan,” he said. He said the cases filed by the ACB and SOG should be investigated by the CBI for an impartial probe. The SOG had registered the first FIR on July 10 for criminal conspiracy under IPC sections 124-A and 120-B and two persons were arrested in the case. Later on July 17, two more FIRs were registered by the SOG on charges of sedition and criminal conspiracy on a complaint by Congress Chief Whip Mahesh Joshi. The SOG had arrested an alleged middleman, Sanjay Jain, on July 17 and a court had remanded him in police custody for interrogation.
In an audio clip, Jain was purportedly heard talking to Congress MLA Bhanwarlal Sharma and one Gajendra Singh, who the Congress claims is Union minister Gajendra Singh Shekhawat. The Union minister has vehemently denied the Congress’ charges.
