Union Minister Jairam Ramesh, who had come under attack from Sangh outfits months back for favouring toilets over temples, today targeted Narendra Modi for speaking on the same lines, saying it was borne out of his "blind desire for Prime Ministers post".
Ramesh said it was not Modi's "conviction" but "compulsion" that made him say so yesterday and that his "enlightenment" should have come before Ayodhya demolition in 1992.
"I am very happy that the Gujarat Chief Minister has finally found enlightenment and recognised the importance of toilets...It is not conviction that has made Mr Modi say this. It is compulsion," he said.
The Rural Development Minister was reacting to Modi's remarks that toilets were the priority over temples.
"I am glad that the Gujarat Chief Minister has got enlightenment even if it is an enlightenment borne out of compulsion, even if it is enlightenment borne out of the blind desire for the Prime Minister's post," he said.
He added, "I wish if he (Modi) had got this enlightenment 22 years ago, India would have been spared the Babri Masjid tragedy, India would have been spared the communal riots in diferrent parts of the country, India would have been spared the Bombay blasts and indeed India may have been spared Godhra and what happened afterwards."
Ramesh, while holding the portfolio of Sanitation, had last year said "there are more temples in the country than toilets". This had triggered protests by Sangh parivar outfits like VHP and Bajrang Dal, whose activists even urinated outside his official residence here.
Referring to that episode, the Minister asked why are the Sangh outfits silent today.
