Congress hits back at Rajnath Singh, denies Nehru planned Babri Masjid funding

The Congress has strongly reacted to Defence Minister Rajnath Singh’s claim that Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to restore the Babri Masjid using public funds.

Congress leader Manickam Tagore took to X on Wednesday to challenge the BJP’s assertion, calling it a “lie” and saying there is “zero archival or documentary evidence to support” the statement.

“Nehruji explicitly opposed using government money for religious places - including the reconstruction of temples. He insisted it should be funded through public contributions, not the state,” Tagore said.

Defence Minister @rajnathsingh 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… https://t.co/j4diuPTwHY

— Manickam Tagore .B🇮🇳மாணிக்கம் தாகூர்.ப (@manickamtagore) December 3, 2025

He further asked, “If Nehruji refused public funds even for Somnath (a famous temple in Gujarat) - a symbol revered by millions - why would he propose spending taxpayer money on Babri?”

Singh’s comments came during an event near Vadodara commemorating the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel. He claimed, “Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to (re-)build the Babri Masjid (in Uttar Pradesh's Ayodhya) using public funds. If anyone opposed this proposal, it was Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, born to a Gujarati mother. He did not allow the Babri Masjid to be built using public funds.”

The minister added that public donations, not government funds, financed the work on the temple. “A trust had been established. Not a single penny of government money was spent on this (Somnath temple) work. Similarly, the government didn't give a single rupee to construct the Ram temple in Ayodhya. The entire cost was borne by the people. This is called real secularism,” he said.

Tagore responded by accusing Singh of using history for political ends. “Rajnathji'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,” he said.

On the topic of Patel’s memorial, Singh had said, “After Patel died, common people collected funds to build a memorial for him, but when this information reached Nehruji, he said Sardar Patel was a leader of farmers, so this money should be spent on building wells and roads in the village.”

Tagore called the suggestion “a farce” and added, “Building wells and roads is the government's responsibility. The suggestion of using memorial funds for that was absurd.” He concluded, “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...”