New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday took strong objection to Prime Minister Narendra Modi's charge that the party will 'bulldoze the Ram temple' if elected to power, accusing him of instigating people and demanded that the Election Commission take action against him.
Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge said it is the BJP that uses the bulldozer.
"It is the BJP that uses the bulldozer. We have never run a bulldozer on anyone till date. The Election Commission should take action against Modi ji and the BJP for saying such things about the temple of God which is currently under construction by the trust. By saying such things, they are creating anger among the public. They are inciting the public, they are instigating them."
"The Prime Minister himself is giving instigative speeches; action should be taken against him. If some small leader had done this, we would not have paid attention, but the person sitting on the post of Prime Minister is speaking such language," Kharge said in a post on X.
Modi, while campaigning in Uttar Pradesh on Friday, had claimed that the Congress and the SP will run a bulldozer over the Ram temple if elected to power, and asked them to take lessons from Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on where bulldozers should be used instead.
बुलडोजर तो भाजपा चलाती है। हमने किसी पर आज तक बुलडोजर नहीं चलाया। जो भगवान् का मंदिर अभी ट्रस्ट की ओर से बनने में है, उसपर ऐसी बात बोलने के लिए चुनाव आयोग को मोदी जी और भाजपा पर कार्रवाई करनी चाहिए। ऐसी बातें करके वो जनता में एक रोष पैदा करने का काम कर रहें हैं। जनता को भड़का रहे… pic.twitter.com/ksvXGzboPT
— Mallikarjun Kharge (@kharge) May 18, 2024
"If the SP and the Congress come to power, they will send Ram Lalla back to the tent and bulldoze the temple," he claimed.
The Congress president, in his reaction, said Modi is inciting people by saying such things that are impossible as "we cannot do such things".
"The people of the country know that this will never happen. After our government comes, everything will be protected. This is what our constitution says, we will work under the constitution only," he said.
Senior Congress leader P Chidambaram said the party in its manifesto has promised to "put an end to the weaponisation of laws, arbitrary searches, seizures and attachments, arbitrary and indiscriminate arrests, third-degree methods, prolonged custody, custodial deaths, and bulldozer justice".
"That is a complete answer to the outrageous and false charge that the I.N.D.I.A. bloc will take bulldozers to the Ram Temple in Ayodhya," he said in a post on X.
"Bulldozer justice may be the signature tune of the chief minister of UP, but it is anathema to the Congress and the I.N.D.I.A. bloc," the former union minister also said.