"The Congress strongly condemns the incident which has hurt the religious sentiments of people," Chief spokesman of the state unit of the party, Ravinder Sharma said.
Sharma accused the police of mishandling the situation and blamed the administration of a delayed response.
"The mishandling of the situation by the local police and delayed response by the administration resulted into the escalation of the situation leading to tension," the spokesman said.
Demanding a probe and stern action against the guilty including those responsible for mishandling the situation, Sharma said "the conspiracy behind the incident should be exposed".
"The party urges the government and administration to take all precautionary measures so that the designs of antisocial elements do not succeed to disturb peace and harmony in the state," he said.
Aap Shambu temple in Roopnagar area of Janipur was allegedly vandalised by a "mentally-disturbed" man yesterday, triggering protests in the area.