Hindu groups’ efforts to garner political support for their demand to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya has put a Christian parliamentarian from Tamil Nadu in trouble.Media reports last week said Helen Davidson, a Christian, had signed a memorandum of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) demanding a temple in the controversial site in Uttar Pradesh.

The DMK party on Tuesday sought an explanation from Davidson, its Member of Parliament representing Kanyakumari, to explain the media reports about her support for Ram temple
Davidson categorically denied having signed any such memorandum. She told Express over phone that members of the Kanyakumari district VHP had called on her a few days ago to hand over some pamphlets and also urge her to support the cause for a Ram temple in Ayodhya when the issue came up in Parliament.
She said she had told the VHP delegation that she would toe the line of her party if the issue came up for discussion in the House. However, the delegation had taken her signature as an acknowledgement of having received the pamphlets and the request letter they handed over to her.

She said the news about the meeting had appeared, along with photographs, in many local newspapers and the people of her constituency were aware of it. Only a biweekly Tamil news magazine carried a wrong report, triggering the controversy, she added.

Former BJP MLA Velayudhan, who led the VHP delegation of Davidson, confirmed Helen’s statement. He said VHP members throughout India were meeting their local MPs to elicit their support for a bill - when it comes in Parliament- to build a Ram temple for Hindus.

Davidson was the was the lone successful DMK woman candidate in the 2009 elections. She defeated BJP candidate Pon Radhakrishnan by a margin of over 65,000 votes in Kanyakumari