NEW DELHI: Hitting out at Congress president Rahul Gandhi over the Ram temple issue, Union Textiles Minister Smriti Irani has said that Lord Ram does not exist and a temple dedicated to the deity in Ayodhya has no significance for the main opposition party.
The senior BJP leader made these remarks after a day-long visit to Rahul Gandhi's parliamentary constituency Amethi on Friday.
“Rahul Gandhi ji ka aj ek bayaan aaya hai ki unke liye Ram Mandir koi vishesh vishya nahi hai. Jis Gandhi pariwaar aur Congress ne nyaylaya mein yeh affidavit diya ki Bhagwan Ram ka koi astitva nahi hai, unke liye mandir bhi vishesh nahi hoga. (Rahul Gandhi has given a statement that Ram temple is not an important issue for him. For the Gandhi family and the Congress party, which has said in an affidavit submitted before a court that there was no evidence to prove Lord Ram’s existence, Ram Temple also doesn’t hold any significance),” the minister said.
Union Min Smriti Irani in Amethi:Rahul Gandhi ji ka aj ek bayaan aaya hai ki unke liye #RamMandir koi vishesh vishya nahi hai.Jis Gandhi pariwaar aur Congress ne nyaylaya mein yeh affidavit diya ki Bhagwan Ram ka koi astitva nahi hai unke liye mandir bhi vishesh nahi hoga.(04.01) pic.twitter.com/UUPVKicKPT
— ANI UP (@ANINewsUP) January 5, 2019
By making such remarks, the Congress president has made it clear today that he has nothing to do with the Ram temple, she said.
The remarks from Irani came in response to Rahul Gandhi's statement that the 2019 Lok Sabha Elections will be fought on the issue of farmers problems, jobs for unemployed youths and corruption in the Rafale deal, and not on Ram Temple issue.
"The narrative is very simple for 2019 elections. Jobs for India's youth. What will set the narrative is the destruction of the economy by (Prime Minister) Narendra Modi," the Congress president had said in Lok Sabha.
Rahul made these remarks while speaking to reporters outside the Parliament after taking part in the Rafale deal debate.
He said that the Supreme Court was apprised of the Ayodhya issue. "Let's see what Supreme Court will do on Ram temple," he said.
Speaking to mediapersons during his one-day visit to the Lok Sabha constituency of Rahul Gandhi, Smriti Irani asked as to how the Congress chief would “look into the eyes of people of Amethi”.
“Why was Rahul silent when Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Kamal Nath spoke against people from UP and Bihar working in that state? Rahul Gandhi did not condemn the Congress chief minister in Madhya Pradesh. How will he look into the eyes of people in Amethi today?” Irani said.
Irani had contested the 2014 Lok Sabha election against Rahul Gandhi in Amethi.
