NEW DELHI/ LUCKNOW: Ratcheting up their campaign ahead of a Dharma Sabha in Ayodhya, BJP leaders on Friday gave conflicting indications on taking the ordinance route to build the Ram temple at the disputed site.
While Ravindra Kushwaha, BJP MP from Salempur, claimed the Centre would bring a bill to facilitate construction of the temple in the upcoming winter session of Parliament and go for an ordinance if it was blocked in the Rajya Sabha, Haryana Chief Minister Manohar Lal Khattar ruled out the ordinance. “Efforts are being made to build consensus on this issue. There is no scope for an ordinance on it,” Khattar said.
Stirring the pot, Sakshi Maharaj, the controversial BJP MP from Unnao, gave a call to demolish the Jama Masjid in Delhi, claiming it was built after demolishing a temple during the Mughal rule.
With Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray scheduled to reach Ayodhya on Saturday, party leader Sanjay Raut said Ram bhakts took just “17 minutes to demolish” the Babri mosque, wondering how long the government would take to bring in a law for temple construction.
The Vishwa Hindu Parishad, which is organising the Sabha on Sunday, is learnt to have submitted memorandums to BJP MPs urging them to scale up the ordinance pitch in Parliament. Also, Hindutva hardliner Murli Manohar Joshi sought resolution of the Ram temple issue.
While the VHP and the RSS are on the same page on the issue, the BJP is learnt to be tacitly supporting it.
With the forthcoming Assembly elections in Chhattisgarh, Madhya Pradesh, and Rajasthan showing signs of rural distress impacting the overall electoral outcome, a section of BJP leaders argue the party would have to bank on the development and the mandir agenda in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. A big turnout at Sunday’s event could set the tone for the eventual build-up of the emotive issue.
Sena chief to visit Ayodhya
Raising the pitch over the demand for an ordinance on Ram temple, Shiv Sena leader Sanjay Raut on Friday wondered why the government takes so long to bring in a law to construct the Ram temple given that it took only 17 minutes for devotees of Ram to bring down the Babri mosque. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is to visit Ayodhya on Saturday
All eyes on VHP’s mega event on Sunday
Ayodhya: Vishva Hindu Parishad’s ‘dharam sabha’ (religious conclave) on the Ram temple issue is also slated to be here on Sunday. VHP expects at least one lakh people to attend the event