Kailash Vijayvargiya on construction of Ram Mandir
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was not thinking of bringing an ordinance "as of now" for construction of the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, said BJP National General Secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya. He further asserted that it was only the saffron party that could construct the Ram temple at Ayodhya as "no one else has the guts" to do it.
The temple issue did "more harm than good" to the BJP as the matter was being used by the opposition "to terrorise minorities and polarise votes," he said.
"We would appeal to the court once again for a verdict on the issue (Ram Mandir). When a matter is in court, we should not be in a hurry and give it enough time to take a decision. But if people's aspirations keep increasing, the government will have to take a call on it (whether to bring ordinance or not). As of now, the party is not thinking of bringing in an ordinance on construction of temple," Vijayvargiya said.
An early hearing of petitions in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case was recently declined by the Supreme Court.
The hearing in the case was earlier fixed for the first week of January before an "appropriate bench", which will decide the schedule of hearing.
When asked about the growing clamour for ordinance by various organisations and political outfits such as Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), RSS and Shiv Sena, he reiterated that they would have to appeal to the court for an early verdict.
"The BJP has not raised the matter, it was saints and other organisations that did. The party has never gone into polls with Ram Mandir issue. For us, the agenda has always been 'Sabka Sath Sabka Vikas'," Vijayvargiya said, rubbishing opposition claims that the saffron party rakes up Ram Mandir issue for political benefits ahead of elections.
He alleged that opposition parties have been trying to harm the party's prospects by intimidating minorities with the temple issue.
Vijayvargiya, who is the BJP in-charge of Bengal, said the saffron party would wish to build the temple, keeping the court's decision and Constitution's provisions in mind.
"Only BJP can construct the Ram Temple, nobody else has guts to construct the Ram temple. We will do it. But we will do it by respecting the court, Constitution and social fabric," he said.
Thousands of devotees had thronged Ayodhya on November 25 to attend VHP's 'Dharam Sabha' to discuss the Ram Mandir issue, with a senior religious leader asserting the dates for building the temple would be announced early next year.
Last week, NDA-ally Shiv Sena's chief Uddhav Thackeray had said the BJP government at the Centre "may not last" if the temple was not constructed in Ayodhya, warning that "emotions of Hindus should not be taken for granted".
