Slipping into “an early  election mould,” Opposition Leader  L K Advani on Thursday hit out at  Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and UPA Chairperson Sonia Gandhi for their  “twisted secularism” in “rejecting Rama” and  demanded an apology from them for the description of   “Lord Rama as a myth” in a government affidavit to the Supreme Court.

With a live issue at hand, the BJP leader said the UPA government’s “real intentions” had been unmasked with the affidavit, which had inflicted “a grave insult” on the Hindu believers. Pointing out to the government affidavit submitted to the apex court on September 12 in relation to the controversial “Sethusamudram” project off Tamil Nadu coast, Mr Advani said the two leaders had sought to say, “ We do not accept Rama. How can we accept Ramar Sethu ?”BJP has opposed the project which it claims  would destroy “ the  Ramar Sethu”  believed to have been built by Lord Rama to reach Lanka  as described in the Hindu epic  ‘Ramayan.’

Describing the affidavit as “blasphemous” and “a well thought out act,” he asked for its withdrawal. He  also disapproved of the  decision to file a supplementary document in connection with the Sethusamudram project.
“It (affidavit) is pouring contempt on crores of Hindus in the country and abroad,” Advani told a crowded news conference. He announced that his party’s youth wing and state units would demonstrate on Friday and burn copies of the Centre’s affidavit.

Poll plank
The BJP leader said the affidavit issue would be part of its election campaign.

“Surely, it will be mentioned,” he said when asked whether his party would flag the matter in its election campaign. He was of the view that mid-term polls would be held next year.

“You are giving me a suggestion. I will certainly consider it,” he said when asked whether he planned a Rath Yatra over the issue. Advani also had a meeting of party office-bearers and MPs on the Rama affidavit issue.

He stated that details of  Ramayan which formed the foundation of the country’s cultural life and faith for thousands of years had been officially negated by the government. “Can they say such thing about any other faith even indirectly?” The BJP leader demanded to know. He said the government must ensure protection of the Ramar Sethu, an undersea bridge believed to have been built by Lord Rama, by redesigning the Sethusamudram waterway project. “An inquiry panel should be set up to fix the ministerial responsibility for this blunder (affidavit),” he said.

Advani, who accused the ruling UPA of communalism, said a petition under the Right to Information Act could reveal the origin and path of the controversial affidavit.

 The BJP leader, who is due to meet AIADMK chief J Jayalalitha on September 19, claimed she too supported his party’s stand on the issue.

He would visit Chennai and thereafter move to Bhopal. From September 21 to 24, he would  attend the BJP National Executive meet there and thereafter proceed to Somnath temple in Gujarat on September 25.