The Congress on Sunday criticised BJP president Amit Shah’s remarks on the Supreme Court verdict that has opened the Sabarimala temple to women of all ages, saying the ruling party’s goal was to first weaken and then finish institutions.

Shah had on Saturday said that courts should not pronounce verdicts that cannot be implemented, prompting BJP insiders to see a “strategy to turn the issue into the Ayodhya of the south” ahead of the general election.

“It is the goal of the BJP to first weaken institutions and then finish them.… There is a long list, be it CBI, EC (Election Commission), CVC (Central Vigilance Commission) and the CIC (Central Information Commission),” Congress spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told a news conference.

“Now the same intervention has been made without understanding of law,” he added.

Ironically, the Congress too has opposed the verdict, against which the BJP and the RSS have been spearheading protests.

“It is an uninformed, loose, trivial comment (by Shah) which is an insult to the intelligence of the institution and the electorate,” Singhvi said.

In Lucknow, Bahujan Samaj Party president Mayawati too condemned Shah’s remark, saying the apex court should take cognisance of the “irresponsible and provocative statement”.

In a statement, she said Shah’s remarks showed that “democracy of the country is in danger”.

Singhvi also chastised Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath for saying the apex court should pronounce a verdict on the Ram temple, too, if it can pass a judgment on Sabarimala. Singhvi said the comment reflected a lack of knowledge of the law and the Constitution.