Ram Mandir Event: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) leader Sharad Pawar has said that 'Shilanyas' for a Ram temple at Ayodhya was conducted when Rajiv Gandhi was the country's prime minister and slammed that BJP, RSS are doing politics on the issue.
"The shilanyas (laying of first stone) was conducted during Rajiv Gandhi's tenure, but today the BJP and RSS are doing politics in the name of Lord Ram," Pawar said.
The veteran leader was speaking at a public meeting at Nipani in Karnataka. A consecration ceremony would be performed at the Ram temple in Ayodhya on January 22.
On Prime Minister Narendra Modi undertaking an 11-day fast ahead of the consecration ceremony, Pawar said, "I respect his faith in Ram, but had he decided to observe a fast to eliminate poverty, people would have appreciated it."
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