BJP set to ride ‘Ram Rath’ once again

mangaloretoday.com/ PTI

Lucknow, Feb 7: With its eye firmly fixed on the next Lok Sabha elections, BJP is all set to ride the `Ram Rath’ once again in the hope of returning to power.

BJP national president Rajnath Singh, who took a holy dip at the `Sangam’ waters in the ongoing Mahakumbh on Wednesday, gave enough indication that the saffron party could rake up the Ram temple issue expecting to reap rich electoral dividends.

Singh said that the BJP could pave the way for the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya by a Parliament legislation if the party got a majority on its own.

“BJP has been and will always remain committed to the construction of a grand Ram temple at the Ram Janambhoomi in Ayodhya,” Singh said while speaking at the meeting of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).

 

“We will need your (saints) blessings for Ram temple...give us enough strength for that...not only you (saints) but millions of hindus also want the temple”, the saffron party president said amid pro-Narendra Modi slogans by the BJP workers present at the meeting.

Earlier talking to reporters, Singh said that BJP had never deviated from its core ideology. “We have not deviated from our core issues (Ram temple, uniform civil code and abrogation of Article 370)... but there are some issues that require legislation by Parliament...we have to have a majority there,” he said.

“Lord Rama is in our hearts,” he added. Singh, however, said that no political meaning should be derived from his visit to Mahakumbh. “I am here to seek blessings of the saints,” he said.

The BJP chief reiterated that it was the Parliamentary Board which would decide the prime ministerial candidate of the party. “I accept that Narendra Modi is very popular but the prime ministerial nominee will be decided by the Board’’, he added.

VHP wants legislation on Ram temple

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) on Wednesday demanded legislation by Parliament for the construction of the Ram Temple at the Ram Janambhoomi in Ayodhya and warned of a nationwide agitation if the centre failed to do so within the next six months, reports DHNS from Lucknow.

A political resolution to this effect was adopted at the meeting of the “Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal” (the highest decision making body) of the VHP at Kumbhanagar on Wednesday. In an apparent bid to rake up the vexed Ram Temple issue in the next Lok Sabha elections in 2014, the VHP set a six month deadline for the same.

“The saints and sadhus will help launch a massive movement in the country in favour of the Ram temple,” VHP president Ashok Singhal said.