Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Mohan Yadav said the Congress will have to “pay the price” for “raising a finger at Hindu gods and goddesses”, amid BJP’s attack on the opposition party for declining the invitation to attend the Ram temple consecration ceremony.

Yadav was addressing a convention at Nagda in Ujjain district on Sunday.

The chief minister said that the Congress should seek an apology for its "sin".

“There is no personal enmity between Congress and us. But there is an ideological fight between us. Why does Congress point fingers at our gods and goddesses? Congress will have to pay the price for this,” he said.

He said that Lord Ram imparted goodness to others even after suffering hardships.

“Invaders destroyed temples of Hindu gods and goddesses before laying their hands on us. But that was the period of slavery and we could not do much about it,” he said.

“This is the same Congress. Jawaharlal Nehru opposed Somnath (temple) and today’s Congress opposes Ayodhya,” he said.

Yadav said Congress should introspect as its ex-president Madan Mohan Malaviya had established Kashi Hindu Vishwavidyalaya.

“You (Congress) hate the word Hindu so much... But the importance of being a Hindu is evident from the previous national presidents of your own Congress," he said.

Congress should seek an apology for its "sin", he said accusing the grand old party of dividing the society.

He said that Congress could have averted Partition but it chose not to do so.

The Madhya Pradesh government is sending 5 lakh laddoos to Ayodhya but the Congress has declined the invitation for the consecration of the Ram temple on January 22, he said. The BJP has stepped up its attack on the Congress over the invitation.

“The Congress is seeing a vote bank and it will have to pay the price,” he said.

Yadav said, “Congress is involved in the politics of appeasement, which can't be matched with our nationalistic politics. Our policies are patriotic.”

Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by The Telegraph Online staff and has been published from a syndicated feed.