'Lies, half-truths': Congress slams BJP criticism of Nehru over Somnath temple issue

New Delhi: The Congress on Wednesday slammed the BJP for accusing first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru of indulging in appeasement politics over the Somnath temple issue, saying the ruling party was resorting to "lies and half-truths" by selectively quoting from Nehru's letters.

Congress leader Piyush Babele said when the BJP is raising the issue of then President Rajendra Prasad's participation in the rebuilt Somnath temple inauguration, it must answer why President Droupadi Murmu was not invited to attend the inauguration of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

"They (BJP) are serving lies and presenting it as truth, they are serving half truths. They selectively pull out Nehru's letters with the context taken away as the letters written before and after are not talked about," Babele said in a video that was reposted by Congress general secretary in-charge communications Jairam Ramesh on X.

In a post on X along with his video, Babele said, "The Bharatiya Janata Party keeps raising the same question repeatedly: that then-Prime Minister Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru had stopped then-President Dr Rajendra Prasad from attending the inauguration of the Somnath Temple. Before we expose this lie, will the BJP answer this: During the Modi government, who stopped then-President Shri Ram Nath Kovind, who comes from the Dalit community, from attending the foundation stone laying ceremony of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya?"

During the Modi government, who stopped the current President, Droupadi Murmu, who comes from the Adivasi community, from attending the inauguration of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya, he asked.

"Were these two Presidents not invited to the event because they come from the Dalit and Adivasi communities? And it is a well-known fact that the BJP and RSS have a policy against the Dalit and Adivasi communities," he alleged.

Countering the BJP, Babele said that on November 28, 1947, in his prayer meeting in Delhi, Mahatma Gandhi had clearly stated that the Junagadh government could not use public funds from the state treasury to build the Somnath temple.

"When Gandhiji asked Sardar Patel whether he was giving any money from the government treasury for the construction of the Somnath Temple, Sardar Patel had stated, 'As long as I am alive, not a single paisa from the government treasury will be given for the construction of the Somnath Temple. Hindu society can build the temple through donations'," Babele pointed out.

When the time came for the inauguration of the Somnath temple in 1951, it came to light that the then-government of Saurashtra had given Rs 500,000 for the temple's construction, he said.

"Building the temple with government funds was against the wishes of Father of the Nation Mahatma Gandhi, Iron Man Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, and the provisions of the Indian Constitution. Pandit Nehru, adhering to this very policy, was opposing the use of government funds in the temple's construction," he said.

On March 2, 1951, then President Dr Rajendra Prasad himself wrote a letter to Nehru asking that he wished to attend the temple's inauguration in his personal capacity, he said.

In response on the same day, Pandit Nehru wrote that his objection was to the use of government funds in the temple's construction and in such a case, if the government gets involved, it would go against secular policies, Babele said.

"'But if you have already promised to attend the temple's inauguration, I will not stop you'," he said quoting Nehru's response to Prasad.

In a letter written to Chakravarti Rajagopalachari on March 11, 1951, Pandit Nehru repeated the same point and said that if Dr Rajendra Prasad wants to go, he should go, Babele said.

In a letter written to K M Munshi on April 22, 1951, Pandit Nehru also said that "it was not right example" for the Saurashtra government to give Rs 5 lakh, he said.

The BJP on Wednesday launched a fresh attack on the Congress, alleging that in independent India, Nehru hated Lord Somnath the most.

In a series of posts on X, BJP national spokesperson Sudhanshu Trivedi alleged that Nehru did not want the rebuilding of Somnath temple after Independence due to his "blind appeasement politics" in pursuance of which he did not refrain from even glorifying Mughal invaders.