"We respect the sanctity of every religious place irrespective of the community it belongs to. I do not know the statement attributed to Ramesh. Perhaps it could have been distorted and he is in the best position to explain."
"Congress party believes in sarvadharmasambhav. Equal respect for all religions. Equal respect for all religious places", party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters.
BJP has also hit out at Ramesh saying he should not make such statements which "hurt the fine fabric of faith and religion" in the country.