"Public money should not be spent on Temples, Mosques": Congress MP Manickam Tagore slams Rajnath Singh

New Delhi [India], December 3 (ANI): Congress MP Manickam Tagore on Wednesday sharply criticised Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for claiming that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to rebuild the Babri Masjid with public funds, calling the statement "a complete lie".
He asserted that Nehru and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel shared a cordial relationship and reiterated that Nehru's firm stand was that public funds should never be used for constructing religious places.
Speaking to ANI, Tagore said, "It is a complete lie by Rajnath Singh ji. We all know that Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel had a cordial relationship, and Pandit Nehru's logic was simple: public money should not be spent on mosques, temples, churches, or gurudwaras. It should be people's contribution..."
Earlier today, in a post on X, Tagore slammed Rajnath's claim, saying, "There is zero archival or documentary evidence to support it."
"Defence Minister Rajnath Singh claims Nehruji wanted to rebuild Babri Masjid with public funds and that Sardar Patel stopped him. This is a lie. There is zero archival or documentary evidence to support it. Nehruji explicitly opposed using government money for religious places -- including the reconstruction of Temple. He insisted it should be funded through public contributions, not the state," Tagore posted on X.
Tagore's criticism comes a day after Rajnath Singh addressed the 'Sardar Sabha' organised in Vadodara, Gujarat, as part of the unity march programme organised to commemorate the 150 birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel.
Accusing the Defence Minister of trying to "rewrite the past to divide the present," Tagore highlighted that Rajnath Singh's claims "collapses under basic logic and historical record."
"If Nehruji refused public funds even for Somnath -- a symbol revered by millions -- why would he propose spending taxpayer money on Babri? The claim collapses under basic logic and historical record. Rajnath ji 's statements aren't about history. They're about politics -- rewriting the past to divide the present. The BJP's strategy is simple: insult our founders, invent stories, fuel polarisation," Tagore added.
The Congress leader further said that they will "not allow the legacy of Nehru or Patel to be distorted by Godse's followers."
"We will not allow the legacy of Nehru or Patel to be distorted by Godse's followers. Truth matters. History matters. Rajnath ji's lies must be exposed," Tagore said.
Earlier in Vadodara, Singh had claimed, "Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel was truly secular was truly secular, he never believed in appeasement, when Jawaharlal Nehru spoke about spending government funds on the Babri Masjid issue, if anyone opposed it was one born from Gujarat, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel who opposed it. At that time, he did not allow the Babri Masjid to be built with government money."
The Defence Minister said that earlier parallels were drawn between reconstruction of Gir Somnath temple, but Patel rejected similarities between the two cases, highlighting that the Somnath temple was rebuilt with donations instead of government money.
"Nehru raised the question of reconstruction of the Somnath Temple, when the question was raised, then Sardar clarified that the Somnath Temple case was different; the public had donated Rs 30 lakh there, a trust had been formed, and not even a single penny of government money was used," Singh added.
'Sardar Sabha' was organised on Tuesday as part of the 'Unity March' organised by Mera Yuva (MY) Bharat under the Ministry of Youth Affairs & Sports to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. (ANI)