Centre Should Apologise For 'Misleading' People On Ram Setu, Says Chhattisgarh CM Baghel

Baghel responded to Union Minister Jitendra Singh's comments on Ram Setu in Parliament by saying, “When the Congress government (at the Centre) said the same thing, we were branded as anti-Ram."

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel commented on the Ram Setu issue

New Delhi: Chhattisgarh Chief Minister Bhupesh Baghel said that the Centre should apologise for "misleading" the country on the Ram Setu issue, adding that when the Congress-led UPA government stated the same thing in the past, it was dubbed as "anti-Ram".

Baghel responded to Union Science and Technology Minister Jitendra Singh's comments on Ram Setu in Parliament by saying, “When the Congress government (at the Centre) said the same thing, we were branded as anti-Ram."

"The government of these so-called devotees of Lord Ram stated in Parliament that there is no solid evidence of it (Ram Setu), so now in which category they should be put? They should apologise for misleading people," the CM said the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) also did not comment on the government's stand and had they been real devotees of Ram, they would have criticised the government, the Congress leader added.

Baghel was speaking to reporters at a helipad here on Saturday, PTI reported.

In response to a question about whether satellite images can prove the existence of Ram Setu or the submerged city of Dwarka, Union Minister Singh stated in the Rajya Sabha on Thursday that Indian satellites have acquired high-resolution images over the Ram Setu region connecting India and Sri Lanka.

However, satellite images cannot provide direct information about the origin and age of this structure, he had said.

"Through space technology, we have been able to discover pieces and islands, some kind of limestone shoals, which of course, can't be accurately said to be remnants or parts of a bridge. But they do have a certain amount of continuity in location through which some surmises can be drawn," he said.

"So, what I am trying to say in short is that it is difficult to actually pinpoint the exact structure that existed there, but there is some kind of an indication, direct or indirect, that those structures have existed," the Union minister had stated.

Earlier on Saturday, CM Baghel unveiled the FIH Men's Hockey World Cup trophy during a welcoming ceremony at his residence in Raipur. The world cup will begin from January 13 in Odisha.

(With inputs from PTI)