Congress: When elections are around the corner, RSS remembers Ram temple

A day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat strongly pitched for the construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya at "the earliest", the Congress on Thursday said such statements were bound to be made as elections were approaching.

Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari, while responding to questions on the RSS's three-day lectures series that ended on Wednesday, asserted that the DNA of an organisation or a person cannot be changed.

Asked about Bhagwat's remarks that a Ram temple in Ayodhya should be constructed at "the earliest" and it will end tensions between Hindus and Muslims, he said, "When elections come, they remember the Ram mandir." Tewari also claimed that if a time line is drawn of statements made by the BJP and RSS leadership on the Ram temple from 1986-2018, one will find that they were made when an election was near.

The views of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Article 370 and Ram temple may not have changed, but its views on Article 377 have, Tewari said, in an apparent jibe at Bhagwat's comments in which he said the LGBTQ community should not be isolated as they were also part of society.

On the three-day RSS conclave, he said every organisation has a right to put forward its views.

Asked about Bhagwat's remarks on identity of Indians, Tewari said, "Our viewpoint is clear. There is no contradiction between a national, religious or even a sub nationalistic entity. I am a proud Indian, I am a Hindu and I am a Punjabi at the same time. There is no contradiction between them."