The Bharatiya Janata Party on Wednesday said the affidavit on Ram Setu in the Supreme Court, denying the existence of Lord Ram, was one of the gravest mistakes committed by the United Progressive Alliance government.
Addressing a gathering of party workers, BJP leaders L K Advani, Rajnath Singh and Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi flayed the Congress-led government and the DMK on the issue of Ram Setu.
"The rise of BJP has been phenomenal in the country. But I have to accept that the Congress has also time and again helped the BJP achieve such a height. Congress leaders have committed grave mistakes time and again," Advani said.
"The first big mistake by them was the imposition of Emergency, the second one was their stand on the Shahbano case and the third error on their part was the affidavit which negated the existence of Lord Ram," he said.
"Now the Congress-led government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Sonia Gandhi, has committed a blasphemous act," declared Advani.
"Even during the height of the Ram Mandir campaign, nobody dared to say that Lord Ram never existed. Foreign historians have written in Arabic and other languages that Babar destroyed the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and built the Babri Masjid at the site," he said.
"But it is under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh that someone has dared to question the existence of Ram. The greatest leader of Congress Mahatma Gandhi talked about Ram and Ram rajya. Can they undermine Mahatma Gandhi's beliefs?" Advani said.
"Some people say that DMK leader (M Karunanidhi) has spread petrol over the Ram Sethu controversy. But who lit the fire? Congress lit the fire and then only the DMK leader could pour petrol over it," Advani said.
Rajnath Singh reiterated the BJP's demand that the UPA remove all DMK representatives from the Union Council of ministers and make them apologise for Karunanidhi's statement on Lord Ram.
"If they don't do that, it means they support Karunanidhi on Ram," he said.
Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi said that Congress is doing the work of the demon Ravan. During the Ramayana war, Ravan also must have wanted to destroy the bridge to prevent Ram's army from entering Lanka, but he could not do that, said Modi.
"Now, Congress under the leadership of Sonia Gandhi has decided to do it. But we will not allow the destruction of Ram Setu," he added.