Row over Ram temple remarks, Tharoor says was misquoted

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 15

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor on Monday clarified his controversial remarks that “no good Hindu would want a (Ram) temple built by destroying another place of worship”.

Moments after the ruling BJP attacked him, Tharoor took to Twitter to assert that he was speaking for himself and not his party.

“I was asked for my personal opinion at a literary festival and gave it as such. I am not a spokesperson for my party and did not claim to be speaking for the Congress. I condemn the malicious distortion of my words by some media in the service of political masters. I said ‘most Hindus would want a temple at what they believe to be Ram’s birthplace’,” Tharoor tweeted.

Leaders privately acknowledged that Tharoor’s remarks were not in line with the Congress stand on the issue. “We have said we will accept the decision of the Supreme Court,” Congress spokesperson RPN Singh said.

The Congress saw in Tharoor’s comments the potential to cause damage to the assiduously built recent soft Hindutva narrative. Worse, Tharoor’s remarks came on a day when Congress chief Rahul Gandhi began his Madhya Pradesh tour after paying obeisance at a local temple.

The controversial statement

Most good Hindus would want to see a Ram temple at the site… but I also believe that no good Hindu would have wanted that a temple be built by demolishing somebody else’s place of worship. — Shashi Tharoor, Congress MP

Want temple or not, clarify: BJP to Cong 

• Following Shashi Tharoor’s comments, BJP leaders accused the Congress of building a momentum against the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya 
• “Tharoor’s comment is an insult to the Hindus… the Congress must clarify whether they are in favour of construction of the Ram temple,” BJP leader GVL Narasimha Rao said