'Remarks distorted': Tharoor on his remarks on Ram temple

After stirring a controversy with his recent remarks against the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, Congress leader Shashi Tharoor on Monday clarified his stance claiming that his comments on the Ram temple were distorted.

Tharoor took to Twitter and wrote, "I condemn the malicious distortion of my words by some media in the service of political masters. I said: "most Hindus would want a temple at what they believe to be Ram's birthplace. But no good Hindu would want it to be built by destroying another's place of worship."

Insisting that it was his personal opinion, the Congress leader claimed that he was not speaking on behalf of his party.

"I was asked for my personal opinion at a literary festival and gave it as such. I am not a Spokesperson for my party and did not claim to be speaking for @incindia," he wrote.

As per reports, Tharoor had earlier said, "No good Hindu would want a Ram Temple to be built by demolishing somebody else's place of worship."

Hitting out at Tharoor, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy in an interview to ANI said, "There is a charge-sheet against him, what can we say on the statement of such a person. Woh 'neech' aadmi hai."

Union Minister Prakash Javadekar also hit out Tharoor and said his comments "shows how cut-off he is from reality."

"Astonished that Shashi Tharoor believes that true Hindus don't want a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. This could be a view of Tharoor or Rahul Gandhi, not of people. This shows how cut-off they are from reality and how they only become Hindu during elections," Javadekar said.