Javadekar rakes up Ram temple issue, asks Congress to ‘clarify stand’

Union minister Prakash Javadekar on Saturday said the Ram temple was never a poll issue for the saffron party as he asked the Congress to clarify its stand on the matter.

Union minister and Rajasthan poll incharge Prakash Javadekar on Saturday said the Ram temple was never a poll issue for the saffron party as he asked the Congress to clarify its stand on the matter, indicating the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)’s plans to use the thorny issue in the days leading up to the assembly elections, scheduled for December 7.

Union minister and Rajasthan poll incharge Prakash Javadekar on Saturday asked the Congress to clarify its stand on the Ram temple issue. (HT File Photo)

Highlighting Congress leader Shashi Tharoor’s remarks that no good Hindu would want the Ram temple by demolishing somebody else’s place of worship, Javadekar asked in a press conference here whether the Congress wanted a temple in Ayodhya or not, accusing the party of keeping “double standards”.

Asked if the BJP was making it an election issue, Javadekar said for the saffron party, it was “a matter of faith”. “This is an issue for the country since 500 years.”

Earlier, Leader of Opposition in Rajya Sabha and Congress general secretary Ghulam Nabi Azad also held a press conference in Jaipur where he said for the Congress, “the issue was development”.

He had hit out at Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Rajasthan chief minister Vasundhara Raje on issues of farm distress, corruption, unemployment and safety of women. The opposition Congress has in the past alleged that 92 farmers have committed suicide since the BJP came to power in 2013.

Javadekar accused Congress leaders of “defaming Rajasthan”. “They say that the BJP made Rajasthan Bimaru (ill) but it was only under the BJP that Rajasthan has seen speedy development,” Javadekar claimed.

Refuting Azad’s statement that the BJP had failed to fulfil its promise on employment, Javadekar claimed that the employment numbers have increased in every sector, adding that tourism, telecom, IT, infrastructure, government and non-government sectors have witnessed growth in number of employed people.

“I challenge the Congress to a debate on employment. But their strategy is ‘spit and run’. They make allegations and run. But we are open to discussion,” he said.

In his press conference at the Congress office, Azad said that the government has lied to farmers who are forced to throw away their produce. “Farmers are not getting the minimum support price. As a result, they are being forced to dump onions on the streets in Alwar and garlic in Kota and Bhilwara. There is no purchase of moong in Nagaur. Nobody is buying the produce of farmers, many of whom have been forced to commit suicide due to the burden of loans.”

Taking a dig at Modi on the issue of corruption, Azad said that of all the prime ministers so far, Modi has travelled to maximum number of countries but has not been able to bring back the absconders who have looted the nations. “During the BJP’s rule, corruption has been internationalised. Scams of thousands of crores are unearthed and the scamsters easily flee and never come back,” he said, citing the “food security scam of around ₹35,000 crore through fake ration cards” in Chattisgarh, “the Vyapam scam” in Madhya Pradesh and the “the mining scam in Rajasthan where 653 mines were allotted without tenders, which, as per our estimate, caused around ₹40,000 crore loss to the exchequer.”

When Javadekar was pointed out about Azad’s charges, he responded by pointing out the alleged “scams like the CWG, 2G and coal” during the UPA government’s tenue. “They were unable to dig out any scams of the BJP government and so were forced to lie about scams,” he said.

Azad alleged the BJP government of cheating the youngsters on the issue of employment. “Before coming to power Modi said that his government will give jobs to 10 crore people of the country, but has provided only 22 lakh jobs.” He added that in Rajasthan, Raje had assured of providing 20 lakh jobs but failed to deliver on her promise.

He also said that women and daughters are not safe in the state and 80,000 cases of atrocities against women have been registered in Rajasthan.