Congress sidesteps Vaghela's Ram temple remarks

New Delhi, May 21 (IANS) The Congress Wednesday steered clear of remarks made by Shankarsinh Vaghela, the party's leader of opposition in Gujarat, who said that BJP's prime minister-designate Narendra Modi must take steps to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya.

Congress spokesperson Abhishek Manu Singhvi told reporters the stand of the Congress on the issue is well-known and "there is no shift from our stand."

"I don't have any knowledge of Vaghela's statement because every TV channel is showing the same as per their suitability. As per our information on the subject, Vaghela was speaking in some other context."

Vaghela made the statement during a special session of the Gujarat assembly held to felicitate Modi after he was appointed as the next prime minister of the country.

Clarifying the party's stand on attempts being made by the Aam Aadmi Party (AAP) to form a government in Delhi, Singhvi said it was a "volte face" on the part of its former ally in the capital.

"Our stand remains the same that we will not support the AAP. We believe that the AAP deserted Delhi during a critical time. We believe they have gravely affected good governance and dashed the hopes and aspirations of the people of Delhi," Singhvi said.

On the controversy regarding the transfer of the Twitter account of the Prime Minister's Office, Singhvi pointed out this is the first time the PM in the Twitter era is handing over (the account) to an incoming PM. "Twitter India and the PMO are fully competent to deal with this," he added.

The spokesperson welcomed the PM elect's decision to invite leaders of SAARC countries to his swearing-in ceremony and said the Congress has taken note of his statement made earlier that the UPA governments had done good work.

The Congress spokesperson also paid tribute to former prime minister Rajiv Gandhi whose death anniversary falls on May 21, calling him a "brave PM who laid down his life in the cause of the nation".

--Indo-Asian News service

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