A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi blamed the Congress for stalling the Ayodhya verdict during his rally in poll-bound Rajasthan's Alwar district, state Congress chief Sachin Pilot said the fact that the PM has spoken about Ram Mandir for the first time during campaigning reflects his desperation.

In an exclusive interview with India Today TV, Pilot said, "It shows how insecure the Bharatiya Janata Party is when the PM has come down to talking about the temple, religious issues. He started off with good governance, investment, job creation, doubling farmers' income, but all that have fallen by the wayside. No matter how much they try to make religious issues important for the elections, the BJP's five-year track record in Rajasthan tells all. They cannot hide them, they can't dissociate themselves with that."

Pilot said, "People of India, people of the state deserve a good government. It's not the job of a political party or a government to make or break churches, temples and gurdwaras. It's with the courts to decide. This election is about real issues, and the Congress party has squarely put the election focus on these issues. It is the BJP that is clutching at straws, that is making a desperate attempt to try and divert people's attention."

"It is quite clear that the BJP has failed in running the states of Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan, and at the central level, they are facing a huge flak. To divert the attention, they will try to talk about emotive issues of religion," he added.

READ| No jumlas, no false promises: Sachin Pilot claims historic mandate for Congress in Rajasthan