Saffron party back to Ram temple agenda in Ayodhya

From Tehelka

BJP President Gadkari promises ‘Gandhian Ram rajya’ and a grand Ram temple if party is voted to power in UP

Virendra Nath Bhatt
Ayodhya

 

BJP President Nitin Gadkari has slammed UP Chief Minister Mayawati for using the important issue of reorganisation of the state as mere tool for her narrow political ends

BJP President Nitin Gadkari on Thursday promised to bring “Gandhian Ram rajya” and a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya if the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was voted to power in the 2012 Assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh.

With the BJP President hammering on the temple issue, it appears that the BJP has fallen back on its temple agenda after other issues failed to arouse the kind of public sentiments expected by the party. The attack on political rivals by Gadkari also indicated that the BJP would continue to target the ruling Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) government as well as the Samajwadi Party (SP) and the Congress on issues like corruption, worsening law and order and good governance but was likely to play the Hindutva card in a bigger way.

At a rally held here to mark the conclusion of the second phase of the Jan Swabhiman Yatra, led by party leaders Rajnath Singh and Kalraj Mishra, the BJP President said, “The road to construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya is open. We have to usher in Ram rajya, which is free of fear, hunger and terror),” adding ,”When Ram rajya is established, the temple will automatically get constructed. You get us the majority in State Assembly; we will change the destiny of UP.”

Slamming BJP’s rivals, Gadkari said, “The previous governments of SP and the present BSP government will be known in the annals of history for rampant corruption, crime and rule by goonda elements. If you want to get rid of parties thriving on casteism, then vote for the BJP, which will usher in Gandhian Ram rajya and a grand Tam temple will also be constructed in Ayodhya. The BJP believes in politics of development and we have also prepared a blueprint for rapid development of UP.”

Gadkari promised that the BJP would never have any dealings with either the BSP or the SP. ``Both the SP and BSP are extending unconditional support to the UPA –II government at the Centre while they are engaged in a phantom fight with the Congress in UP.” It may be recalled that the BJP propped up Mayawati as UP Chief Minister thrice--1995, 1997 and 2002. The Mulayam Singh Yadav-led SP government in UP in August 2003 was also installed with the tacit support of the BJP while the National Democratic Alliance was ruling at the Centre.

The BJP President said that the next phase of the Yatra “would be led by former Madhya Pradesh CM Uma Bharti, who was appointed as one of the party-in-charge of UP soon after the national executive meeting of the BJP in Lucknow last June. The third phase of yatra will began from December 1 and concludes on December 15. “The next phase of Yatra will be led by Uma Bharti and she will shoulder the responsibility of bringing Ram rajya in UP. She will tour all the 403 Assembly constituencies, spread in 75 districts of the state,” Gadkari said.

Favoring the creation of small states, Gadkari slammed Mayawati for using the important issue of reorganisation of UP as mere tool for her narrow political ends. “We too support the creation of small states. The BJP had created Uttarakhand, Jharkhand and Chattisgarh, but we never used this issue to hide our failures or to divert public attention on real issues. If Mayawati was so sincere for reorganisation of UP, then what prevented her from bringing a resolution for division of UP in Assembly in the last four years?”

Former BJP President Rajnath Singh, who also addressed the meeting, said, “Nathuram Godse might have killed Mahatma Gandhi, but it is the Congress which has destroyed the legacy of Gandhi and Gandhism.”

On the cash-for-votes scam, Gadkari claimed that the party MPs were being "framed”. “The UPA was responsible for the scam. I can't say whether Prime Minister Manmohan Singh knows or not but our MPs are being framed in the case and they are innocent.”

In a bid to cheer up the party cadres and reach out to the electorate, the BJP had launched the Yatra from Varanasi and Mathura simultaneously on 13 October. Both these cities have been on BJP's Hindutva map after Ayodhya due to the Gyanvapi mosque-Kashi Vishwanath temple controversy in Varanasi and the Keshav Dev temple-Shahi Idgah dispute in Mathura. The first phase of the Yatra was led by Rajnath Singh and Mishra. The Yatra of Rajnath Singh concluded in Lakhimpur Kheri while Mishra’s ended in Jalaun in Bundelkhand region.

The second phase of the Yatra was again led by Mishra and Rajnath Singh and started from Hamirpur and Bahriach respectively on 9 November. Both the Yatras concluded on Thursday with “Vijay Sankalp” (victory pledge) rally in Ayodhya.

The Yatra covered 61 districts out of total 75 and 370 Assembly constituencies out of total 403 during the two phases. The population of 61 districts as per 2001 census is over 15 crore and comprises over 10 crore voters. “The third phase of the Yatra will cover the rest of the districts and Assembly seats,” said Surya Pratap Shahi, state President of the BJP.