Adityanath corners Congress, Rahul Gandhi on Ayodhya matter

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Wednesday termed Congress Vice President Rahul Gandhi's visit to temples as 'hypocrisy' and said the true character of the party was revealed the way one of its leaders pitched to extend the dates of the Ayodhya matter hearing.

This comes a day after Congress leader and senior lawyer Kapil Sibal asked the top court for a July, 2019 date for the next hearing of the long-standing Ayodhya matter, citing political ramifications owing to the general elections in 2019.

"The character of Rahul Gandhi and Congress has once again been revealed in front of the people. On one hand, he is visiting all the temples in Gujarat and trying to misguide the Hindus and on the other hand another, a Congress leader is trying to extend the hearing date of the Ayodhya dispute hearing," Adityanath told ANI.

"This proves that his visit to temple is nothing else other than hypocrisy," he added.

The Supreme Court yesterday deferred hearing in the case for February 8, 2018.

Following this, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) Chief Amit Shah, in a press briefing, took a potshot at the Congress Party and its vice president, Rahul Gandhi, for adopting 'double standard' in the matter.

The Congress Party then furthered the war of words and said the BJP was raking up non-issues just to garner votes.

The Babri Masjid was built by Mughal emperor Babur in Ayodhya in 1528.

The Hindus, however, claim that a Ram temple that originally stood there was demolished to construct the mosque. Citing this, Hindu zealots demolished the mosque on December 06, 1992, triggering communal riots in various parts of the country.