Minister said key call on Ram temple after December 11: Seer

AYODHYA: Amid cries for handing over the sites of mosques next to Varanasi's Kashi Vishwanath temple and the birth place of Lord Krishna in Mathura, a prominent seer claimed at VHP’s Dharm Sabha here on Sunday that the central government was likely to take an important decision about Ram temple after December 11 when the model code of conduct due to state polls comes to an end.

Speaking at the congregation where RSS pledged its solid support for the construction of Ram temple, Mahant Ram Bhadracharya from Chitrakoot claimed to have been assured by a member of Modi’s cabinet that the government would take an “important decision” vis-a-vis construction of Ram temple after December 11.

“On November 23, I had called a senior Union minister who assured that after the model code of conduct comes to an end on December 11, the PM is likely to sit with them and take such a decision so that Ram temple can be constructed,” said the reputed seer, identifying his interlocutor as the second most powerful person in the government.

“We were also told we will not be cheated and I feel that ordinance route may be opted in the winter session. We should exercise patience. Once Ram temple is built, it (India) will become an ‘aghoshit Hindu rashtra’ (undeclared Hindu nation),” he said.

Importantly, the winter session starts on December 11 and no ordinance can be brought when the two Houses are functioning. That, however, did not deter seers or their audience as they, along with VHP, asserted that executive, legislature and judiciary should realise that Hindu sentiments of December 1992 — when Babri masjid was demolished by temple votaries — were still alive and needed to be honoured.

Calling upon the BJP government to bring a law to ensure construction of Ram temple, the seers said they were ready to contest if the Supreme Court ruled against the sentiments of Hindus. The Dharm Sabha, at the sprawling Bhaktmal Ashram, saw participation of at least 60 prominent seers amid chanting of slogans like “Yachna Nahi Ab Rann Hoga (No more request. It’s war now)”.

The Sabha’s assertion comes a day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat reiterated his demand for a law to pave the way for Ram temple.