Raking up the contentious issue of Ram Mandir, senior Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Subramanian Swamy on Thursday asked the Narendra Modi-led government to commence construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

"Time for Namo Govt to announce the commencement of construction of Ram Temple through Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas Samiti or VHP. The entire 67.703 acres belongs to Union Govt. When SC decides the cases, compensation will be given to winners. But not land. Meantime construction can begin," MP Subramanian Swamy tweeted on Thursday afternoon.

Time for Namo Govt to announce the commencement of construction of Ram Temple through Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas Samiti or VHP. The entire 67.703 acres belongs to Union Govt. When SC decides the cases compensation will be given to winners.But not land. Meantime construction can begin

Subramanian Swamy (@Swamy39) June 6, 2019

Earlier, in a letter written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi on May 31, Subramanian Swamy said the Union government has the right to take over anybody's land in public interest and requested it to assure the Supreme Court that just compensation will be given to all parties in the Ramjanmabhoomi - Babri Masjid land dispute and allocate the "disputed" land for building the Ram Temple, news agency IANS reported

"There is no bar in law which stands in the way of the Government of India allocating the 67.72 acres of land in Ayodhya to anybody which has a public character for building the Ram Temple. The government can inform the Supreme Court that compensation, as decided by the court, will be paid to the winning appellant," he said.

Swamy argued that the Narasimha Rao government had nationalised the entire land, both disputed and undisputed, therefore the Supreme Court should only be concerned about compensation.

"As per the amendments in 1993 and in 1994, a Constitution Bench of the SC upheld the nationalisation as valid. Thereafter all the parties except the Ramjanmabhumi Nyas Samiti accepted the compensation paid by the government for the land nationalisation," Swamy wrote.

He said the Centre should assure the apex court that just compensation will be paid to the decided title holder as determined by it.

"In fact, as a generosity, both the parties can be paid compensation if they withdraw their respective appeals in the SC before adjudication," Subramanian Swamy said.

(with IANS inputs)