New Delhi: The Congress on Saturday appeared to disapprove of Rural Development Minister Jairam Ramesh for his comment that there are more temples in the country than toilets, saying "we respect the sanctity of every religious place".
"We respect the sanctity of every religious place irrespective of the community it belongs to. I do not know the statement attributed to Ramesh. Perhaps it could have been distorted and he is in the best position to explain."
"Congress party believes in 'sarvadharmasambhav' (equal respect for all religions)", party spokesman Manish Tewari told reporters.
The BJP has also hit out at Ramesh saying he should not make such statements which "hurt the fine fabric of faith and religion" in the country.
"Making of toilets and having faith in a religious place of worship are two different things. India is a multi-cultural country where we should have unblemished faith in a temple, a mosque, a gurudwara or a church. You cannot juxtapose the two," BJP spokesperson Rajiv Pratap Rudy said.
He alleged that Ramesh has made a political statement and advised him to instead concentrate "salvaging the battered image of the UPA government".
Addressing a gathering of Panchayat-level workers on Friday, Ramesh said that toilets are more important in India than temples.
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