"Anti-Ram...": Chhattisgarh CM Vishnu Deo Sai on Mulayam cousin's remark on Ram Mandir

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday attacked Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav over his indecorous comment on the Ram Temple and called him "anti-Ram."

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Vishnu Deo Sai on Tuesday attacked Samajwadi Party leader Ram Gopal Yadav over his indecorous comment on the Ram Temple and called him "anti-Ram." "He is anti-Ram, he can say anything he wants. He declined the invitation to attend the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Temple. He also raised questions on the existence of Ram...We can't expect anything from them," the Chhattisgarh CM told reporters.

He further urged the voters to cast their votes in the third phase of the Lok Sabha elections. "The third phase of elections is underway. I want to appeal to the people to cast their votes," he said after casting his vote at a polling station in Jashpur.

In an interview with a Hindi television news channel earlier in the day, Ram Gopal, the cousin of late SP patriarch and former CM Mulayam Singh Yadav, termed the Ram Temple a 'bekar Mandir' (flawed and useless temple), adding that it was not built following Vastu Shastra. "It (Ram Mandir) is a useless temple. The blueprint of the temple was flawed and it was not built in accordance with Vastu," the senior SP leader added.

Earlier today, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said, be it the SP or its ally, the Congress, they were fundamentally 'anti-Hindu' and 'anti-Ram'. "Be it the Samajwadi Party or Congress, they are fundamentally anti-Hindu and anti-Ram. These are the same people who opened fire on Kar Sevaks and even denied the existence of Lord Ram. So it is meaningless to expect such leaders to be sensitive to the religious sentiments of the majority of the country's population and our avowed deities. Ram Gopal Yadav's statement has unmasked the true face of the INDI alliance, the Samajwadi Party and the Congress. They are playing with our faith and sentiments to please and cater to their vote bank," he said.

Meanwhile, polling started for 93 Lok Sabha seats across 12 states and union territories in the third phase of the general election on Tuesday at 7:00 am. The states and union territories where the elections are being held in this phase are Assam (4), Bihar (5), Chhattisgarh (7), Dadra and Nagar Haveli and Daman and Diu (2), Goa (2), Gujarat (25), Karnataka (14), Maharashtra (11), Madhya Pradesh (8), Uttar Pradesh (10) and West Bengal (4). The BJP has bagged the Surat seat unopposed.

In Uttar Pradesh, voting is underway in 10 seats: Sambhal, Hathras, Mainpuri, Agra (SC), Fatehpur Sikri, Firozabad, Etah, Budaun, Aonla, and Bareilly. (ANI)

(This story has not been edited by Devdiscourse staff and is auto-generated from a syndicated feed.)