Faizabad, April 27: Getting into poll mode, the BJP on Tuesday vowed to construct a grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya. While addressing the BJP’s Mahasangram rally, BJP president Nitin Gadkari said that the party was committed to the construction of a grand temple at the birth place of Lord Rama in Ayodhya. He said that the party had no objection if a mosque was constructed outside the ‘panchkosi parikrama’ area.
The BJP president also ruled out any post-poll alliance with either the BSP or the SP in UP. The entire BJP leadership, led by its national president Nitin Gadkari, assembled at the rally organised on Gulabbari ground in Faizabad, merely 12 kilometres away from Ayodhya.
Before attending the rally, which witnessed an impressive turnout, the BJP chief told mediapersons that if the Muslims wanted they could construct a mosque outside the panchkosi parikrama area.
Addressing the rally, Gadkari said that it was an unforgettable day of his life as he offered puja to Lord Ram on his maiden visit to the temple town. The BJP chief said that in case BJP could not form Government in the State, it would prefer to play the role of an effective and positive opposition rather than having any truck with either the BSP or the SP.
“We will not repeat the mistakes committed in the past,” he said in reference to the alliance with the BSP which cost the party dearly in the last decade so as it made Mayawati Chief Minister thrice by lending its support to BSP.
However, national vice-president of the party Vinay Katiyar said that he had no problem in construction of a mosque in Ayodhya as there were many other such structures in the temple town. “But we will not accept a mosque in the name of Babar at any cost as he was an aggressor and built the mosque after destroying the Ram Temple,” he said.
State BJP chief Surya Pratap Shahi went a step further and hailed the demolition. “Every time I visit Lord Rama’s birthplace, I get a deep sense of satisfaction that the disputed structure is no longer there.”
National general secretary of the party Ravi Shankar Prasad, who was also an advocate in the High Court in the case, said that issue of Lord Rama was not negotiable.
–Agencies–