New Delhi: In the midst of the North-South India controversy stirred by Opposition parties led by the Congress, former Prime Minister HD Deve Gowda stated on Saturday that Lord Ram served as a unifying force in the nation and established its bedrock.

"... It is through Lord Rama and his divine blessings that united this nation and laid the foundation for our nation," he said addressing the Parliament on the last day of the Budget session, which was also the last time the Lok Sabha and the Rajya Sabha were convened before the general elections.

The former PM also stated that Lord Rama is a symbol of righteousness and tolerance, and it was a great moment of personal joy and devotion for him to attend the consecration ceremony of the Lord.

"I and my wife both attended the consecration of the Lord Rama temple in Ayodhya. It was a great moment of personal joy and devotion for me like it was for millions of Indians. Ayodhya Ram exists in our hearts and minds as an image that our ancestors and elders have permanently created,' the JD(S) supremo said.

"Lord Rama is a symbol of righteousness, he is a symbol of love and graciousness, is a man who followed dharma and Raj Dharma, he was very accommodative," Deve Gowda said.

It is these values that are enshrined in Lord Rama that drew Mahatma Gandhi to him and it was he who held Lord Rama as a symbol of great virtues before the nation, he said.

Further, Deve Gowda wished and prayed that Lord Rama temple in Ayodhya would become the symbol of the nation and the world.

These comments are made after Prime Minister Narendra Modi tore into the states like Congress-ruled Karnataka, which are questioning the devolution formula and demanding a share of taxes in line with their contribution.

This narrative is an attempt to create a North-South divide, Modi said.

Deve Gowda also congratulated Prime Minister for religiously following the 11-day fasting rituals, prepping himself for the Ram Lalla Pran Pratishtha. "I was so happy and I must be very frank that Modi was so dedicated and so sincere while performing the Pran Pratistha function," he said.

Deve Gowda also welcomed the Union government's decision to award Bharat Ratna and appealed to those who questioned the move not to differ with the Centre on this issue.

"Unnecessarily, let us not try to again differ on a major issue taken by our prime minister to confer Bharat Ratna for these great leaders," the Ex-PM said.

The Centre on Thursday announced that Chaudhary Charan Singh, PV Narasimha Rao and MS Swaminathan will be awarded Bharat Ratna posthumously.

The budget session was initially scheduled to conclude on February 9 and has been extended by a day.