Ahead of VHP's Dharma Sabha, UP BJP chief says party's stand on Ayodhya Ram temple 'firm', but won't make it a poll issue

Lucknow: Ahead of the 25 November ‘Dharam Sabha’ scheduled to be held in Ayodhya, the BJP on Wednesday claimed it is the only political party in the country, which has “passed a political resolution” for building a Ram temple and stands by it “firmly”. At the same time, Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey maintained that the party will not make Ram temple an election issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. [caption id=“attachment_5592351” align=“alignleft” width=“380”]  File image of Mahendra Nath Pandey. PTI[/caption] “There is no question of the BJP being behind the scene as far as 25 November Dharam Sabha is concerned, as the BJP is serving people in the capacity of a ruling party. And, it is the only political party in the country, which in its 1989 national executive meeting in Palampur, Himachal Pradesh, had passed a political resolution supporting construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya,” Uttar Pradesh BJP chief Mahendra Nath Pandey said. “The BJP stands firmly by the resolution,” he said in an interview. “For the BJP, Ram temple is a matter of faith and devotion. The party is a strong advocate of construction of the temple according to the law. As far as the Dharam Sabha is concerned, the saffron party has respect for the sants and seer community,” he said. On rival political parties accusing the BJP of not declaring the date for construction of the Ram temple and misleading people, Pandey said, “The political parties who talk such things are actually victims of false virtue. The country had seen how those parties had opposed the OBC Bill and the bill banning instant triple talaq in the Parliament. In fact, they are the ones who have shown dual face.” On whether Ram temple will be an issue in the 2019 Lok Sabha elections for the party, Pandey said, “In 2019, our party will not make Ram temple an election issue. Even when our 1991 election manifesto is seen, we had contested elections on the issue of public welfare and development. Construction of Ram temple is a matter of faith and devotion.” “We will contest elections on ‘sabka saath, sabka vikaas’ and ‘saaf niyat, sahi vikas’, and the feedback we are getting shows that victory will be bigger than 2014 Lok Sabha elections,” he added. Pandey further said, “In 2014, people of India knew that Narendra Modi was stopped from doing work in Gujarat but they decided to make this person the leader of India. Today, the public can see that Prime Minister Modi is working for them. But some people are trying to stop him for their own vested interests and corruption.” “However, the public will not allow anyone to stop Modi. People will vote in large numbers and the results will be better than 2014 Lok Sabha elections as far as the BJP is concerned,” he said.