The federally ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has hit out at Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) politician Jagada Nand Singh over controversial remarks he made about the Lord Ram temple which is under construction at present in the pilgrimage town of Ayodhya.
"The Ram temple is being built on the land of hatred. Ram cannot be imprisoned in a magnificent palace...We are the people who believe in 'Hey Ram' (Dear Ram) and not 'Jai Shri Ram’ (Victory to Ram)," the RJD leader in Bihar told local media.
Strongly objecting to his comments, the BJP's national spokesman Shehzad Poonawalla claimed that Nand Singh was "abusing the Hindu faith".
"[Nand Singh calls] Ram Janmabhoomi [Ram’s birthplace] 'Nafrat Ki Zameen (land of hate)', [the Hindu temple] Ram Mandir 'chaar diwari (four walls)' and refers to 'Unmadi ke Ram (Ram of troublemakers)'. Earlier Nand Singh made controversial comments targeting Hindus during ban on the [Muslim group the Popular Front of India]. It is not a sanyog (coincidence) but a votebank Prayog (experiment) - from [Congress politician] Husain Dalwai to Jagda Nand Singh," Poonawalla tweeted this morning.
"Abusing Hindu Astha (faith) = secularism for RJD-Cong," the BJP member added.
This isn't the first time one of Nand Singh’s remarks has caused the fur to fly. Last year, he compared the banned radical Islamic organization Popular Front of India with the Hindu nationalist party Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) - the ideological guide of the BJP - prompting outrage from the BJP.
Singh's RJD is one of the main constituents of Bihar's ruling coalition comprising Nitish Kumar's Janata Dal (United) and Congress and the BJP is the main opposition party in the northern Indian state.