Congress MP Manickam Tagore came down heavily on Defence Minister Rajnath Singh for alleging that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru planned to use government funds to rebuild the Babri Masjid. Tagore called the claim “a lie,” emphasising that no archival or documentary evidence supports such a statement.

Posting on X, Tagore wrote, “There is zero archival or documentary evidence to support it… Nehruji explicitly opposed using government money for religious places.”

Tagore argued that Nehru’s position was consistent, the state should not finance religious structures. He pointed out that Nehru had insisted even the reconstruction of the Somnath Temple must be done through public donations, not government funds.

He questioned Rajnath Singh’s logic, saying, “If Nehru refused public funds even for Somnath, a symbol revered by millions, why would he propose spending taxpayer money on Babri?”