CONGRESS NEVER UNDERSTOOD IMPORTANCE OF HOLY SITES: PM

Bristling at the Congress, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said those who were at the helm at the Centre for long since independence couldn’t understand the significance of places of worship, adding that they set a trend in the practice of being ‘ashamed’ of their own culture.

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Ruffling feathers in the Centre and the BJP, Congress heavyweights, including the party’s national president Mallikarjun Kharge, former president Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi turned down the invitation to the recent ‘Pran Pratishtha’ of Ram Lalla in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

The snub by the Congress top brass and several Opposition leaders drew fury from the BJP, which accused them of insulting the country’s Sanatan culture.

Prime Minister Modi made these remarks while addressing a gathering in Guwahati after inaugurating and laying the foundation stone of projects worth Rs 11,599 crore including the Maa Kamakhya Divya Pariyojana here in Guwahati. “Unfortunately, those in power for a long time after Independence did not understand the importance of our holy sites. They made a trend out of the practice of being ashamed of one’s own culture and past for political gains,” PM Modi said.