HYDERABAD: Criticising Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s comments that the grand old party will run bulldozers over the Ram temple if voted to power, Congress MLC T Jeevan Reddy on Saturday said that it was former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi who opened the locks of the Babri Masjid and placed the idol of Ram Lalla in 1986 following a court order. He said that Ram temple would have been a reality much earlier if Rajiv Gandhi was voted to power in 1989.
Addressing a press conference at the Gandhi Bhavan, Jeevan Reddy demanded the prime minister retract his words. He reminded Modi that he was not even in politics when Rajiv Gandhi set in motion the process for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The Congress MLC also sharply accused the Modi of making divisive statements in violation of the model code of conduct. He said that it was the BJP which was running the governments on bulldozers.
“It is the BJP which dragged the Ram Mandir issue into controversy for its own political benefit,” Jeevan Reddy said.