Senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Monday said that the foundation stone for the Ram Mandir was laid by former Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi.

“The foundation stone has already been laid, Rajiv Gandhi ji did it,” Singh told reporters when asked to comment on party leader Kamal Nath’s remark that Rajiv Gandhi also wanted the construction of Ram temple to take place.

Singh said that the Congress party is not against the construction of the Ram Mandir but the politicisation of the issue. He said the occasion is inauspicious for the bhumi pujan.

“I am a student of Swami Surupanandji Maharaj, Jagatguru Shankracharyaji, Dwarka Joshimath. I asked him when every important ceremony is done on ‘mahurat’ (auspicious time), why is the Ram temple foundation laying ceremony being done in August, which falls in ‘Bhadav’. He said that this is wrong. I even posted it on my social media,” Singh said.


The Rajya Sabha MP’s remark comes two ahead of the scheduled bhumi pujan in Ayodhya to begin the construction work of a grand Ram Mandir.

Earlier today, Singh took to twitter to urge Prime Minister Narendra Modi to defer the August 5 ceremony, saying the occasion is inauspicious.

“I again request Modiji postpone the ground-breaking ceremony of the Ram temple on August 5. After a struggle of hundreds of years, the occasion for the construction of the temple has come. Don’t allow your arrogance to create obstruction in the way,” he said in a series of tweets.

The ‘bhoomi pujan’ of the Ram temple is scheduled to be held on Wednesday at Ayodhya and is expected to be attended by Prime Minister Narendra Modi.