Kamal Nath kept a "Hanuman Chalisa" program in Bhopal on the eve of Ram Temple "bhoomi pujan"
Madhya Pradesh Congress president Kamal Nath said that he has just toed his party's line on the Ram temple issue and called himself a "devout Hindu" who has respect for all other faiths.
Kamal Nath was reacting to a Congress MP from Kerala writing to party president Sonia Gandhi against senior leaders extending support to the construction of the temple in Ayodhya for which "bhoomi pujan" was performed by Prime Minister Narendra Modi on August 5.
TN Prathapan, Congress's Lok Sabha MP from Thrissur, in the letter to Mrs Gandhi, had questioned the support senior Congress leaders Kamal Nath and Digvijaya Singh extended to the construction of the temple, saying it is like "bowing low for temporary successes".
An unfazed Kamal Nath said he has not deviated from the long-held party stand on the Ayodhya issue.
"I have stuck to the stand taken by the first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru ji and former PM Rajiv Gandhi on Ram temple. Nothing more should be read into it (recent statements on the issue)," he told news agency PTI at his residence when asked about Mr Prathapan's letter.
"Rajiv ji got it (locks of Ram temple at Ayodhya) opened," he said, adding that "The Congress stand was clear that we will abide by the court's decision on it. That is it," the former Chief Minister said.
"I had got the biggest Hanuman Temple built in Chhindwara (his home district). I am a devout Hindu who has immense respect for all other faiths," he said.
"Has the BJP patented Hinduism. Have they taken agency for religion and Lord Ram" the former Union Minister asked.
Kamal Nath had hosted a "Hanuman Chalisa" program at his house in Bhopal on the eve of the August 5 ground-breaking ceremony for the new Ram temple in Ayodhya.
He had also announced to send 11 silver bricks for the Ram temple construction.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)