Allahabad, July 7, 2013: The Bharatiya Janata Party’s Uttar Pradesh in-charge Amit Shah on Saturday raked up the issue of Ram temple, saying the party will soon build a grand temple in Ayodhya.

“I came here to pray to Ram Lalla. I wish we will soon build a grand temple for Lord Ram here and restore Lord Ram to his rightful place,” he told reporters in Ayodhya before attending a meeting with party workers from the Awadh region.

Mr. Shah’s comment comes amid growing speculation that the BJP might look to invoke Hindutava in the State, where it made reasonable gains during the heydays of the Ram janmabhoomi movement in the early 1990s.

The observation gains further prominence with recent reports saying that Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi could contest next year’s Lok Sabha election from Varanasi, an important city for Hindus.

Mr Shah’s statement drew sharp reactions from other parties, which accused the main opposition party of raking up the issue for electoral gains.

“They have raised this issue not once but several times. When they were in government why didn’t they raise it,” Minister of External Affairs Salman Khurshid said.

“Secondly, we should not say things about which we have no right. The matter is in the Supreme Court and only when there is an order from it, can anybody move forward,” he added.

UP Congress spokesman Zeeshan Haider said in Lucknow that there was an attempt to polarise voters before the elections.

He also alleged that Mr Shah’s remarks on Ram Temple were tantamount to contempt of the Supreme Court.

JD(U) president Sharad Yadav said when his party was a part of the NDA, they were clear that the Ayodhya temple issue can be resolved only after the courts give a verdict or through talks between both the communities. “Other than this there is no third way out,” he said.

D Raja of the CPI said the BJP is “reviving” its Hindutva ideology and politics. “It is open now that the RSS is dictating policies to the BJP. It is very clear. The BJP is bound to revive its Hindutva politics,” he said.

Information and Broadcasting Minister Manish Tewari said it was “odd that just one year before the polls, the BJP starts remembering Lord Ram and when the polls are over, they forget.”

“The BJP’s nature is that of Ravan. If it frees itself of this, it will be able to see Lord Ram,” Mr Tewari said.

Mr. Shah, a former Home Minister of Gujarat and a close aide of Mr. Modi, also targeted the Congress. He said he “prayed to Ram Lalla for good governance in the country and making it free of the Congress.”

He declined to answer questions on the Ishrat Jahan fake encounter case.

Mr. Shah, who is also the party’s general secretary, held a meeting with party workers at Karsewakpuram, where stones carved for the proposed grand temple are kept. He urged the party’s district heads to work hard at the booth levels. “If the BJP is to win, the booths will need to be won,” he said.

The Congress criticised Mr. Shah for politicising the Ram temple issue, saying communal politics would not work in the State. “The BJP cannot convert U.P. into Gujarat.”

“The BJP was in power for six years and incidentally even in the State, yet they did not construct the temple. Politicising the issue of Ram mandir won’t work. It might have worked once, but people won't be fooled this time. The voters in the State will reject communal politics,” Congress’s State spokesperson Dwijendra Tripathi told The Hindu .

“The BJP needs to get its agenda clear. Some of its leaders have expressed that Ram mandir won’t be on the party’s agenda. If the BJP wants to do any better, they should look at issues that concern the common man,” he said.

Asked if the party’s State in-charge Madhusudan Mistry would also visit Ayodhya, Mr. Tripathi answered in the negative. Mr. Mistry would begin his tour of the region on Wednesday with a visit to Faizabad, where he would inaugurate the party’s zonal office, he said.

Source: The Hindu, DT. July 7, 2013.