AYODHYA: Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thakre set the tone for VHP's Dharma Sabha in Ayodhya on Saturday by seeking the BJP-led Central government to declare a 'date' for temple construction. Addressing a gathering of Shiv Sainiks and seers of Ayodhya at Sena's much-hyped 'Ashirwad Utsav' in the temple town, the Sena chief reiterated full support of his party if the Centre brought an ordinance or a law for the construction of a grand temple at the birthplace of Lord Ram.
Thakre rather demanded Modi government, which enjoyed a total majority, to take a positive decision on temple before Supreme Court delivered its verdict on the vexed issue.
While the Sena chief was making a fervent appeal to all the saffron forces to join hands and make Ram temple soon a reality, Ayodhya was sitting on the edge with bated breath for the congregation of lakhs of Ram devotees likely to throng the temple town for VHP's Dharam Sabha on Sunday.
However, the bitterness, Sena chief has been nurturing for quite some time for its age-old ally, came to the fore in his indirect jibe on PM Modi when he claimed that he was not in Ayodhya to claim credit for temple or to play politics over the issue.
"I am here to wake the 'kumbhkaran' of the present times from his four-year-long slumber and remind him of his promise," said Thakre adding that keeping the promise also implied to 'Hindutva.' "So a true Hindu should know to keep his words," he maintained.
Amidst the loud proclamation through the slogans like: "Har Hindu ki yahi pukar, pehle mandir phir sarkar ( first the temple then the government),"
Thakre took another dig on the PM saying it was needless to have a broad chest (56 inch ka seena), one should also have a heart inside it.The tempers ran high amidst the fluttering flags of VHP and Sena across the streets of Ayodhya on Saturday as RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Haridwar reiterated Sangh Parivar's stand to back efforts of saffron outfits towards temple construction in Ayodhya.
He claimed that he had conveyed his point of view to the Centre and hoped that the government would take a right decision at a right time."I don't have to repeat it time and again. We have made our stand very clear that the government of the day should bring a law in parliament to facilitate the temple construction in Ayodhya as it can't be built anywhere else in the world," said the RSS chief.
According to highly-placed RSS sources, the sangh has drawn a roadmap to give momentum to temple discourse in the days to come. While the Sunday's dharma sabha will be organised simultaneously at Bengaluru and Nagpur besides Ayodhya, the next step would be to approach the parliamentarians for their support to the temple issue.
This will be followed by a huge rally in Delhi on December 9 to mobilise the Ram devotes and firm up their opinion in favour of temple. The fourth prong of the strategy will be to hold 'yajnas' and 'poojas' to create an atmosphere in the country.
"However, if the government fails to do anything in this direction, final decision will be taken by the highest body of seers at 'dharma sansad' in Prayag on January 31 and February 1, 2019," said the RSS source.
Meanwhile, district administration turned the temple town into a fortress ahead of VHP's event with huge security deployment on every nook and corner of Ayodhya. Drone cameras and anti-terror commandos were keeping a close vigil on the situation.
Besides, a huge security contingent was deployed around the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid area restricting the movement of people towards disputed site through a three-tier security arrangement.
The state home department had despatched an additional re-enforcement of PAC battalions, five companies of Rapid Action Force. Security forces have been conducting march on the national highways around Ayodhya and regular patrolling by the cops on horses was being done inside the temple town.
Faizabad divisional Commissioner Manoj Mishra said that all the arrangement were in place to ensure peace and communal harmony in Ayodhya. "We have met the Muslim community and assured it of fool-proof security. We have told them not to panic," he said.