Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) lawmakers on Tuesday, 19 December, asked the government about its stand on the Ram temple issue at a party meeting, reported The Indian Express. This comes in the light of Hindutva organisations mounting pressure on the government to bring a law to build the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Home Minister Rajnath Singh, who chaired the meet, has reportedly asked the BJP lawmakers to be “patient” on the issue.
Salempur MP Ravindra Kushwaha and Ghosi MP Hari Narayan Rajbhar raised the issue, claiming that the people keep asking them as to when the temple will be built, sources told PTI.
Both these MPs represent Lok Sabha constituencies from Uttar Pradesh,
Speaking to The Indian Express, Rajbhar said:
“Yes, I raised the issue at the meeting and asked the government when will the Bill be brought. Rajnath ji asked us to wait… When the domes were brought down in 1992, no one had taken the permission of the court. Now the controversial structure doesn’t even exist there. So people should build the temple. It’s a matter of faith.”
Kushwaha, on the other hand, told the newspaper that he “cannot disclose” what happened at the meeting
The MPs, whose comments drew support from some other parliamentarians, reportedly enquired about the government's stand on the issue. Singh, who was addressing the meeting, told them that everyone wants a Ram temple at the site where Lord Ram is believed to have been born, and asked the party MPs to be patient.
PM Modi, Amit Shah Not a Part of the Meeting
"Dhairya rakhiye (Have patience)," he was quoted as saying by sources. According to media reports, Prime Minister Narendra Modi and BJP President Amit Shah were away from Delhi and were not a part of the meeting.
Hindutva organisations, including the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, have in the past few months intensified their demand for construction of the temple. Many of them, including RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, pitched for a law to enable it.
Though the BJP has agreed with the sentiments of these organisations, it has so far not come out in support of a law. The case of the Ram temple land dispute is currently being heard in the Supreme Court.
In his speech, Rajnath Singh asserted that the Opposition has no leader to match Modi's popularity and asked BJP MPs to work for the party's re-election in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
After the party suffered defeats in the recent Assembly polls, in which it lost power in three states it ruled, it is looking at a tough challenge from the Opposition to its bid to return to power at the Centre in 2019.
(With inputs from PTI, The Indian Express)
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)