For law on temple, saffron parties wait with baited breath

Vibha Sharma

Tribune News Service

New Delhi, October 16

As the long-drawn Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case hearings end, the issue hinged around building of a “grand Ram temple” at Ayodhya, an emotive issue for Hindus, could not have come at a better time for the saffron combination.

It was way back at its Palampur convention in 1989 that the Bharatiya Janata Party first adopted a resolution to build a “grand Ram temple” at the birth place of Lord Ram in Ayodhya. It has been a constant feature in every manifesto drawn by the party since 1996.

In the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, Maharashtra ally Shiv Sena raised the pitch when it started its election campaign from Ayodhya. More recently, while campaigning for the October 21 state elections, Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray called for enactment of a special law to pave the way for construction of the temple at the disputed site.

Interestingly, BJP’s ideological fountainhead RSS has an important event scheduled around October 31 in Haridwar. The meeting, which is held once in five years, is expected to see the presence of top brass of the Sangh, including sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat, Bhaiyyaji Joshi, Dattatreya Hosabale and Krishna Gopal, is expected to “discuss the next step”.

Even though Sangh affiliate VHP was clamouring for a temple through the legislative process, including an ordinance, the BJP leadership always favoured a solution through courts. This was reiterated on several occasions by its top leaders, including Prime Minister Narendra Modi and party chief Amit Shah.

A party leader, who believes that with “evidence tilted on the side of Ram Lalla, a grand Ram temple is now close to becoming a reality”, adds that next on the BJP agenda should be a Uniform Civil Code in the country. A “grand Ram temple” and a UCC have constantly featured in BJP manifesto in the past years. In the 2019 manifesto, the party “reiterated stand” on the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya. “We reiterate our stand on Ram Mandir. We will explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution and all necessary efforts to facilitate the expeditious construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya”, it said.