UP minister Shrikant Sharma terms Congress as 'big dirty drain of corruption' party

Uttar Pradesh state minister Shrikant Sharma has termed the Congress party a "big dirty drain of corruption" in which "small dirty drains such as the SP, the BSP and the RLD" fall.

The power minister also said the Ram temple issue should not be associated with elections as it's a matter of faith. "It's a proven fact that the disputed site was Ram's birthplace," he claimed.

He also alleged that the country's grand old party was behind corruption cases facing opposition parties like Samajwadi Party, Bahujan Samaj Party and the RLD.

"The Congress is a big drain of corruption. It is behind corruption involving smaller parties like the SP, the BSP and the RLD," he told reporters here Wednesday night.

"The SP, the BSP and the RLD are small dirty drains of corruption and they fall in the big dirty drain of corruption, that is the Congress."

Hitting back at the minister, Congress spokesperson Mukesh Singh Chauhan said Prime Minister Narendra Modi is himself facing corruption charges in the Rafale deal.

"The reality of the BJP has been laid bare and its leaders are making such statements out of frustration," he said.

On opposition's allegation that the BJP was raking up the Ram temple issue ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha polls in order to reap electoral benefits, Sharma said, "We will contest elections on the basis of our performance and will present 60 months' report card to the people."

"The Ram temple issue should not be associated with elections. It's a matter of faith. It's a proven fact that the disputed site was Ram's birthplace," he added.

On Congress president Rahul Gandhi, the UP minister said, "He (Rahul) feels that he can become a prime minister as his grandmother and father were once PM. He is making false allegations against the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi. People of the country will teach him a lesson."

Sharma also said Gandhi might go to jail in the National Herald case.

BJP MP Subramanian Swamy has filed a complaint in a Delhi court in the National Herald case.

All the accused in the case, who is on bail, have denied the allegations. The case is going on before a metropolitan magistrate in Delhi.

(With inputs from agencies.)