Construction of Ram temple to begin before 2019 polls, says former BJP MP

Ram Janambhoomi Nyas (RJN) president Ram Vilas Vedanti on Sunday said the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya will commence before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

The BJP’s affiliate, Vishva Hindu Parishad, had formed RJN in the 1990s to oversee the temple construction in place of the demolished Babri Masjid.

“The BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) has resolved to build the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. The construction of Ram Mandir will begin before the election of 2019 takes place,” Vedanti told reporters at a function organised as part of his national campaign ‘Mission Modi Again as PM’ in Ahmedabad.

He said a mosque will also be constructed in Ayodhya but not in the name of any terrorist or dacoit. He said it will be built in the name of Allah and Islam.

Vedanti, a former BJP parliament member, called Mughal emperor Babar a dacoit and said he demolished “temples, mosques and churches in India”.

He lashed out at the Congress’s alleged attempts to delay the temple construction. Vedanti said the party did so by pleading before the Supreme Court through Kapil Sibal to stop hearings in the Babri Masjid case till the Lok Sabha polls. He said the construction would commence before Lok Sabha polls even as the hearings in the case will continue.

Vedanti refused to announce a specific date when the construction would begin. He said whether a verdict comes in the ongoing legal battle in the Supreme Court or not, the temple will be constructed. The BJP had earlier this year denied reports that BJP chief Amit Shah had said the temple would be built before the 2019 LS polls at a rally in Hyderabad in July.

Uttar Pradesh CM Yogi Adityanath last month said the temple will be built and Lord Ram will decide its date.