Mocking KPCC President B.K. Hariprasad and Congress leaders for their comments on Ram Mandir donations, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi has said that it is heartening to see that those who questioned the very existence of Lord Ram are now speaking about Ram Mandir.

Speaking to presspersons in Hubballi on Friday, Mr. Joshi said that the Congress had actually filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court terming Lord Ram as an imaginary person and even denied the existence of Ram Sethu. The Congress has suddenly started speaking on Ram Mandir issues, he reminded it.

He said that Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath-led government has already taken action against those employees of the temple who indulged in the sin of siphoning of temple donations.

‘Lacks etiquette’

On Mr. Hariprasad likening Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Home Minister Amit Shah to Muhamad Ghazni on the issue of “looting temple donations”, Mr. Joshi said that Mr. Hariprasad lacks basic etiquette of public speech.

When he (Hariprasad) was not included in the Cabinet of the former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, he had indulged in low-level talks against Mr. Siddaramaiah.

“Although we too criticised Mr. Siddaramaiah for his actions, we did not stoop to such low levels,” he said.

On the talk of RSS ban and letter by Home Minister Priyank Kharge, he said that as the Sangh Pramukhs have already reacted to it and legal experts have commented on the value of the letter, he did not think it is apt on his part to comment on the issue now.

On the remark by the Ministry of External Affairs on passport not being a proof of citizenship, Mr. Joshi said that the Home Ministry has already issued a clarification.

To a query on concerns being raised by the Opposition over SIR (Special Intensive Revision), Mr. Joshi said that when things go in their favour, the Opposition find no problem with government initiatives.

“Across the nation, the Congress under the leadership of Rahul Gandhi has been handed out defeat after defeat. And, to divert the attention of the people from corruption and other misdeeds of the Congress, their leaders are raising issues like RSS registration and SIR,” he said.

Infrastructure

Replying to a question on whether fuel prices will be reduced, Mr. Joshi said that even when crude oil prices increased due to war, the fuel price hike did not happen immediately. “There are various issues to be taken into consideration before making changes,” he said.

On oil companies making profit when crude oil prices were less, the Union Minister said that it is not right to say that they made profit. The funds mobilised are used for creating additional infrastructure, including increasing refinery capacity, to bring the country to such a position wherein it would have a fuel stock to last for 70 days.

He said that the Union government has also paid heavy interest on oil bonds released during the UPA regime.