Union minister for defence Rajnath Singh (PTI photo)

NEW DELHI: Sharing excerpts from a book containing Vallabhbhai Patel’s daught-er’s diaries, Congress Saturday accused defence minister Rajnath Singh of lying that Jawaharlal Nehru wanted to build the Babri mosque using public funds, and demanded that Singh apologise to the nation for spreading falsehoods about the country’s first PM.Two days after Singh’s remarks made headlines, Congress spokesman Jairam Ramesh said the minister is sp-reading falsehoods about Nehru to “improve his relationship” with PM Narendra Modi. Ramesh posted on X Maniben’s original diary entry in Gujarati on pages 212-213 in the book ‘Samarpit Padchhayo Sardarno’ by CA RS Patel ‘Aaresh’, that was published by the Sardar Patel Vallabhbhai Patel Memorial Society, 2025.“There is a huge differe-nce between what is contai-ned in the original diary entry and what Rajnath Singh and his fellow ‘distorians’ a-re propagating,” the spokesman said, adding, “The defe-nce minister must apologise for the falsehoods he is spre-ading, simply to improve his relationship with the PM.”A row broke out after Singh made the claim at a rally in Gujarat, with Congress calling his remarks a “lie” and “WhatsApp university story”. BJP had cited Maniben as the source of the claim.