Shashi in a spot over his temple view

Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has raked up a controversy with his remark that “no good Hindu” would want a Ram Temple to be built by “demolishing somebody else’s place of worship.’’

The BJP latched onto the statement and used it as a stick to beat the Congress party with, describing its party president as ‘anti-Hindu.’

Tharoor made the comments at an event in Chennai on Sunday. "As a Hindu, obviously, I am conscious that a vast majority of us believe that that Ayodhya was the birthplace of Ram. For this reason, most good Hindus would want to see a Ram temple at the site where he was supposed to be born. But I also believe that no good Hindu would have wanted that a temple be built by demolishing somebody else's place of worship," he had said.

On Monday, Tharoor accused the media of distorting his words and stressed that whatever he said was his personal opinion and not that of his party of which he is not a spokesperson.

Reacting to Tharoor's earlier purported remarks, Union Minister Prakash Javadekar said that he was "astonished" to know that Tharoor believes that "true Hindus don't want a Ram temple in Ayodhya". "This could be Tharoor's or Rahul Gandhi's views but not of the common people. This shows how cut off they are from reality," Javadekar said.

Hitting out at Tharoor, BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said, “Is he demanding removal of the makeshift temple where pooja is performed daily in the tent? No one till now has made such a demand.”