{"id":22083,"date":"2016-10-14T03:41:31","date_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:11:31","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/globalpress.hinduismnow.org?p=22080&preview_id=22080"},"modified":"2016-10-14T03:41:31","modified_gmt":"2016-10-13T22:11:31","slug":"bjp-allies-pro-hindutva-leaders-pitch-for-ram-temple-ahead-of-up-elections","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/?p=22083","title":{"rendered":"BJP allies, pro-Hindutva leaders pitch for Ram temple ahead of UP elections"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n

The Shiv Sena asked the Narendra Modi government on Thursday to start constructing the Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, joining other pro-Hindutva leaders in raking up the contentious issue ahead of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh.<\/p>\n

An editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana <\/a>said the BJP with a brute majority in the Lok Sabha was well placed to settle the issue. \u201cIf the temple cannot be built today, it will never be built,\u201d the Sena said.<\/p>\n

The Sena comments followed BJP parliamentarian Subramanian Swamy and firebrand Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia asking the party-led government to start building the temple at the site where the Babri mosque was demolished by a Hindu mob on December 6, 1992.<\/p>\n

The Sena\u2019s stand on the temple is seen as an attempt to woo hardline Hindu voters in the state where it plans to expand its presence by fielding candidates in 200 constituencies, nearly six times the number of seats it had contested in 2012. It failed to win a single seat.<\/p>\n

The BJP is attempting to capture power in UP \u2013 one of the most politically important states — where it has been out of power for 14 years.<\/p>\n

However, the party has so far taken a neutral stand on the issue by refusing to openly speak about its construction, apparently not to antagonise the sizeable Muslim voters.<\/p>\n

\u201cThere has been plenty of politics over the Ram mandir issue. Now, decide once and for how long you want to go on politicising it… Don\u2019t just raise slogans, start picking up bricks,\u201d the Sena mouthpiece said, taunting Modi by pointing out that his own constituency was in the state.<\/p>\n

The Sena also reminded Modi that he did not give a clear answer when asked about the temple soon after being elected from Varanasi.<\/p>\n

In May, BJP president Amit Shah had asserted that Ram Janambhoomi was an integral part of the BJP\u2019s manifesto, but did not give a definite reply on how the party will deliver on its promise.<\/p>\n

In an interview to a TV channel on Wednesday, Swamy said Ram mandir will be a crucial issue in the UP elections.<\/p>\n

\u201cIf we don\u2019t raise it in UP, then where will we raise it? It is on our manifesto and will definitely be our main focus,\u201d Swamy was quoted as saying.<\/p>\n

Togadia added to the growing chorus. After Narendra Modi used the \u2018Jai Shree Ram\u2019 slogan to start and end his speech at Lucknow\u2019s Aishbagh Ramlila on Tuesday, Togadia asked the prime minister to build the temple.<\/p>\n

\n

\u0905\u092c ‘\u091c\u092f \u0936\u094d\u0930\u0940\u0930\u093e\u092e’ \u0928\u093e\u0930\u093e \u0932\u0917\u093e\u092f\u093e \u0939\u0940 \u0939\u0948, \u0924\u094b \u0938\u0902\u0938\u0926 \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0915\u093c\u093e\u0928\u0942\u0928 \u092a\u093e\u0930\u093f\u0924 \u0915\u0930 \u0924\u0941\u0930\u0902\u0924 \u092d\u0935\u094d\u092f \u0930\u093e\u092e \u092e\u0902\u0926\u093f\u0930 \u0905\u092f\u094b\u0927\u094d\u092f\u093e \u092e\u0947\u0902 \u0930\u093e\u092e \u091c\u0928\u094d\u092e\u092d\u0942\u092e\u093f \u092a\u0930 \u092c\u0928\u093e \u0939\u0940 \u0926\u0947\u0902! pic.twitter.com\/fIiXV8P48r<\/a><\/p>\n

\u2014 Dr Pravin Togadia (@DrPravinTogadia) October 11, 2016<\/a><\/p><\/blockquote>\n

BJP leaders, however, remained non-committal.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe appreciate the emotions and faith in Ram mandir and even (the) BJP manifesto is a reflection of that faith and emotion. However, being a responsible government, we have to follow the Constitution, which says either though discussion or court,\u201d BJP secretary Sidharth Nath Singh said.<\/p>\n

The party\u2019s UP president Keshav Prasad Maurya too said the party will contest the polls on the development plank \u201crather than the Ram temple.\u201d<\/p>\n<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

The Shiv Sena asked the Narendra Modi government on Thursday to start constructing the Ram Temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, joining other pro-Hindutva leaders in raking up the contentious issue ahead of assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh. An editorial in the Shiv Sena mouthpiece Saamana said the BJP with a brute majority in […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":19,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[1134],"tags":[247,346,1210,75,2000],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22083"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/19"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=22083"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/22083\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=22083"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=22083"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/globalpress-new.hinduismnow.org\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=22083"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}