After the Rajasthan wing of the National Students Union of India (NSUI), the student wing of Congress, launched a drive to collect funds for the construction of Ram Mandir at Ayodhya, the Rajasthan Congress has distanced itself from the NSUI’s drive.
The NSUI had launched a campaign named ‘Rs 1 Ram k Nam’ in Rajasthan on Tuesday to collect donations from students for the construction of Ram Mandir. The NSUI state president Abhishek Chaudhary launched the campaign at Commerce College in Jaipur. The NSUI had launched the campaign alleging the BJP and the Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarthi Parishad (ABVP), the student wing of the RSS, were looting people in the name of collecting funds. A statement issued by the NSUI claimed that the campaign will last 15 days and all the money collected will be transferred to the Ram Temple Trust.
Congress is a secular party: Party treasurer Pawan Bansal
However, the state Congress has distanced itself from the Ram Mandir drive of Rajasthan NSUI. Speaking at a press conference in Jaipur in the presence of Rajasthan CM Ashok Gehlot, Congress National Treasurer Pawan Bansal said that this was not the official stand of the Congress Party as it was a secular party.
“I was not aware that NSUI in Rajasthan will be collecting funds for Ram temple. But this is not the stand of the Congress. The Congress has no plans to collect donations for the Ram temple. I was contacted for the drive but I refused, as religion for me is my personal faith and personal matter. The Congress is secular”, said Bansal.
NSUI’s drive causes stir among liberals
Rajasthan NSUI’s decision to collect funds for the construction of the Ram temple has made the liberals uneasy. Apparently, the news particularly disturbed ‘journalist’ Rana Ayyub who tagged Congress scion Rahul Gandhi on Twitter seeking his response on the NSUI’s drive.
“Oh hello”, wrote Ayyub on Twitter tagging Rahul Gandhi. However, she deleted the tweet later.
Congress party’s stand regarding Ram Mandir has not been very clear. While the party leaders like Digvijaya Singh and Raghunathan Pillai (Kerala Congress) made donations for the construction of Ram Mandir and inaugurated the fund collection drive respectively, Congress has been trying hard to project itself as a secular party.
