Senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader and Bihar's deputy chief minister, Sushil Kumar Modi, has dared the Congress party to clear its stand on the construction of Ram mandir in Ayodhya, at a time when Congress leaders were "busy visiting temples across India in a display of their faith".

Modi said the masjid could come up anywhere, but the temple could come up only at its specified place in Ayodhya, where Lord Ram was born. "The Supreme Court can open its doors at midnight for hearing matters related to the Karnataka government formation or homosexuality but the Ram Temple case is pending for years and the court says it's not a matter of urgency. This has hurt the sentiments of thousands of Hindus," he said, adding that construction of the temple was desired by crores of Hindus in the country.

Modi was just the latest among a host of BJP leaders who have asked for an expedited hearing in the Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case ever since the Supreme Court in October deferred its hearing to January citing other priorities.

The statements, however, could have made ally Janata Dal-United (JD-U) uncomfortable, especially since Modi is usually considered a "moderate among the extremists of the BJP". "The reason CM Nitish Kumar has a good rapport with him is because it didn't hamper his secular image," said a JD(U) source.

The Opposition, meanwhile, has termed Modi's statement a "contempt of court". "It's sad that they want to frighten the court so that the decision is in their favour," said Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) MLA Vijay Prakash, while Congress MLC Premchandra Mishra said the language used by Modi was contemptuous.