AYODHYA, June 30 -- Uttar Pradesh Congress chief Ajay Rai on Tuesday alleged that he had been placed under "house arrest" and prevented from offering prayers at the Ram temple in Ayodhya, a visit he had announced a day earlier.

Rai had reached Ayodhya on Monday evening and was staying at a hotel. He claimed that around midnight, police forced him to leave the hotel and shifted him to the guest house of Acharya Narendra Dev University of Agriculture and Technology in Kumarganj, about 60 km from Ayodhya.

"I was forced to leave the hotel late at night and brought to the university guest house. I have been confined here under police watch," Rai said, questioning why he was prevented from visiting the temple.

A Congress delegation led by Ra...