New Delhi: With the Sangh Parivar upping the ante on the Setu Samudram issue, Congress today sought to turn the tables on the saffron brigade by claiming that the project was conceived and planned by the NDA and steered clear of questions on its own views on the controversial scheme.

"The Sangh Parivar held a public rally in Delhi yesterday on the Setu Samudram. It is an irony that the same NDA led by BJP had decided to oppose the present alignment of the Ram Sethu project," AICC spokesperson Abhishek Singhvi told reporters. "The NDA regime planned the project, calling it a dream project of the government. But not a word was said about Ram Setu. This shows the utter hypocrisy and double standards of the BJP," he said.

He accused the BJP of remembering Lord Ram only when the elections are round the corner. However, asked about the Congress stand on the Setu Samudram project, Singhvi played safe by saying the matter was to be decided by the Supreme Court.

The Congress attack on the BJP and other Sangh Parivar constituents over the Setu Samudram project came a day after a massive rally in the capital by the saffron organisations to demand that Ram Setu be declared a national heritage. Singhvi said the project envisages dredging of a limited portion across the structure that would have affected a mere 300 metres out of nearly 30,000 metres.

Source : PTI