Rahul's remarks insult to Hindu sentiments: BJP

New Delhi, Mar 20 (UNI) Condemning Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's remarks that the Babri Masjid would not have been demolished had his family been active in politics at that time, the Bharatiya Janata Party today described it as an ''insult to Hindu sentiments''.

Addressing a press conference here, Senior BJP leader and Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Vijay Kumar Malhotra said, ''The statement is an insult to Hindu sentiments and makes it clear how much the family of Mrs Sonia Gandhi is anti-Hindu and to what extent it can oppose the construction of Ram Temple to appease the Muslim community for the sake of votes.'' Stating that the Babri structure, built after demolition of the Ram Temple at the birth place of Lord Ram, was a blot on the nationality of the country, Mr Malhotra said any opposition to the construction of a Ram temple at the site of the Babri structure was highly condemnable.

Claiming the the statement by Mr Gandhi amounted to criticism of the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao, he said it could also be construed as against the late prime ministers Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Rajiv Gandhi.

During Rahul Gandhi's grandfather Pandit Nehru's regime,''There was restriction on any Muslim to go inside hundred meters of the Babri structure in the year 1949. The statues of Lord Ram were present at the time of Pt Nehru and they are being worshipped since then. The doors of Ram temple situated in the Babri structure were opened at the time of Rajiv Gandhi.'' UNI