Gujarat elections: Why Congress is linking Ram Mandir to polls, asks Modi

New Delhi: On the penultimate day of campaigning for the first phase of the Gujarat Assembly polls, Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Wednesday accused the Congress of “linking” the Ram temple with politics and attacked senior party leader Kapil Sibal for asking the Supreme Court to defer the hearing on the issue till after the 2019 general election.

Mr Sibal had told the Supreme Court on Tuesday that since the court’s decision in the case would have very serious ramifications, the hearing should be deferred till July 2019 by which time the general election will be over. The court, however, rejected that, and said it would hear the matter on February 8, 2018.

Mr Sibal was quick to hit back, saying the Prime Minister was factually wrong in stating that he represented the Sunni Waqf Board in the court.