Sibal quashes PM Modi's 'Congress behind Ram temple delay' claim

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Sunday rubbished Prime Minister Narendra Modi's claim that the Congress was responsible for the delayed verdict in the Ram Temple case. He also challenged the Prime Minister to make allegations against then Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, who had declared in October this year that the matter was not a priority for the court.

Speaking to ANI, former Union Minister suggested the Prime Minister to start a new programme along the lines of "Mann ki Baat" titled "Jhooti Baate" (false statements) so that the people are aware of the fact that statements that he makes on a weekly basis are "inconsistent with the facts."

 

Responding to Prime Minister Modi's claim, Sibal, who is also a senior advocate, said that he had not appeared in the Supreme Court since January 2018, adding that neither the Congress nor the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was a party in these proceedings, thus nullifying the prospects of any of his actions in the court being in favour of the Congress.

"Now, we are in November 2018, in between, when I was not there, nothing prevented the court from hearing the matter and disposing it off. So why doesn't he make allegations against the judiciary," Sibal asked.

"When the matter came up in October, the Chief Justice said that this is not a priority matter for the court. So does the Prime Minister have the courage to make a statement against the judiciary and say that they don't want to hear the matter," he said.

"He is targeting me because he doesn't have the courage to make allegations against anybody else, knowing full well that I have not been involved in the matter since January 2018," the senior Congress leader added.

Sibal further accused the Prime Minister of raking up the issue for political gains ahead of the impending state assembly polls and the all-important Lok Sabha elections scheduled for next year.

"Why was the matter not raised during former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's term or after he (Prime Minister Modi) came to power in 2014? Did he forget Ram Lalla in 2014, 2015, 2016, and 2017? How has he just remembered Ram Lalla in 2018, because the 2019 elections are near? So who is playing politics here? It is our great Prime Minister, he did it in Gujarat. He is doing it now because the elections are on, but nothing is going to change the minds of the people. They have made up their minds because they have seen through him," Sibal asserted. (ANI)

Earlier on Sunday, Prime Minister Modi, while addressing a rally in Rajasthan's Alwar district, had accused the Congress of interfering in the Supreme Court's proceedings on the Ram Temple-Babri Masjid case, saying that their Rajya Sabha leaders intimidated Supreme Court judges with the threat of impeachment if they didn't stall the case until the General Elections of next year.

"They (Congress) give Rajya Sabha tickets to prominent Supreme Court advocates, who attend proceedings in the court all day and then sit in the Rajya Sabha. We don't have a majority in that House. So they are using it to their advantage. Those Congress members in the Rajya Sabha have told the Supreme Court to not restart the case till 2019 because of the impending elections," the Prime Minister had said.