Are you pujari of Ram temple, Kharge asks Shah on reopening announcement

Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge, on Friday, hit out at Home Minister Amit Shah over his recent announcement that the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be reopened on January 1, 2024.

Addressing a rally in Haryana's Panipat as part of the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, Kharge reminded the home minister that he is a politician and not a pujari at a temple.

Your duty is to protect the country and not make announcements on the temple, the Congress chief told Amit Shah during his address.

On Thursday, while addressing a public rally at Sabroom in TripuraShah had said, "Rahul baba, listen from Sabroom that a mammoth Ram Mandir will be ready on January 1, 2024." The home minister claimed that the Congress had put the Ram Mandir issue in the jurisdiction of the court for long, whereas Prime Minister Narendra Modi laid the foundation stone for it after the Supreme Court's order permitting construction.

Kharge also targetted the BJP-led Centre over issues of joblessness and inflation saying, "In 45 years, unemployment was never so high. Educated youngsters, including those with degrees in engineering and medicine, are without jobs, but Modiji and Amit Shahji are not worried about them. They have no concern for youngsters, the economic condition or inflation. Only elections are on their mind."

"They take the god's name and spread such lies. This is a government of lies. It had promised two crore jobs every year. Did you get those jobs? It had promised to put Rs 15 lakh in everyone's bank account. Did you get that?" Kharge asked the crowd.

—With PTI inputs