Rakesh Sinha pitches 'Ram Mandir Bill', says he's open to Opposition feedback on writing its preface

RSS ideologue and Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha has upped the ante on his pitch for a “Ram Mandir Bill”. On Thursday, he tweeted that he is open to feedback to write the preface of his proposed private member’s bill to have the Ram temple constructed in Ayodhya.

In his tweet,  he tagged a number of Opposition leaders, seeking their response. He said that if the likes of Congress president Rahul Gandhi, Andhra Pradesh chief minister N Chandrababu Naidu, Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad Yadav, Bahujan Samaj Party chief Mayawati and Samajwadi Party president Akhilesh Yadav ask him to “visit their residences”, he would take them up on their offer to get their “valuable opinion”.

Earlier on Thursday, Sinha tweeted asking the Opposition whether its leaders would support him if he introduced a private member’s bill in Parliament on the construction of the temple in Ayodhya.

Directing his attack at Opposition leaders such as Rahul Gandhi, Mayawati, Sitaram Yechury and Lalu Prasad Yadav, who he said were calling out the BJP government for not giving a definite date for the construction of the temple, Sinha said it was time for the truth to be revealed, also specifically asking whether the Congress and Left party leaders would support a Ram mandir bill in Parliament.

While speaking to Times Now on Wednesday, Sinha pointed out that RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had already said if the Supreme Court does not agree to a day-to-day hearing on this case, the government should bring in a law to ensure the timely construction of the temple.

On Thursday, Sinha also tweeted in criticism of the Supreme Court , saying the Ayodhya matter was not its priority.

“How many days did the Supreme Court take to give the verdict on Article 377, Jallikattu, Sabarimala? But Ayodhya has not been a priority (for the court) for decades and decades. It is a top priority of the Hindu society,” Sinha added.

Soon after his tweets, National Conference leader Farooq Abdullah called Sinha’s remarks a poll ploy by the BJP. Abdullah told ANI that “they (the BJP) think Lord Ram will win them the 2019 elections”. “God will not help them win the elections. It is the people who will vote, neither Lord Ram nor Allah will vote,” he added.

Congress leader Roshan Baig said : “Muslims are not against the Ram mandir. The Ram mandir should be constructed in India, but the matter is before the court. So why rake up the issue now, just ahead of the elections?”

A Supreme Court bench, headed by Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi, on 29 October had decided to defer the hearings in the Ayodhya case to January 2019, saying a fresh, “appropriate” bench will decide on the date of hearings in the case. The bench had given the order while hearing a clutch of petitions against the 2010 Allahabad High Court verdict, which had divided the disputed land in Ayodhya into three parts — one each to the Sunni Waqf Board, the Nirmohi Akhara Dal and Ram Lalla.

After the apex court’s verdict, the RSS and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), as well as a few NDA allies and its leaders, had demanded that the BJP bring about an ordinance to build the temple at the disputed site as soon as possible.

On Wednesday, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that the “construction of the Ram mandir is in the hands of Narendra Modi”, and that he should do it. Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray has already planned a grand march to Ayodhya on 25 November.

Maharashtra chief minister Devendra Fadavis, too, had called the top court’s decision “disappointing”.

Aparna Yadav, daughter-in-law of Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav on Wednesday said the Ram temple “should be built”  in Ayodhya. Speaking to reporters in Barabanki on Wednesday, Aparna said, “I have trust in the Supreme Court, but my opinion is that the Ram temple should be constructed in Ayodhya.”

On Tuesday, the VHP’s international working president Alok Kumar had said, “The Centre should enact a law to take over the disputed land in Ayodhya and hand it over to Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mukti Yagna Samiti for the construction of the Ram temple.” The VHP leader added that Hindus across the country wanted a grand temple to be constructed at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya.

“It’s up to the Centre whether they bring an ordinance or a bill. We want a law that ensures that the rights of the land are transferred to the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Mukti Yagna Samiti for the construction of the Ram temple,” Kumar told PTI, adding that if the government wanted to take over the land itself and set up a trust to build the temple, the VHP and its allied organisations would be ready to discuss it, as well.

“The VHP and seers want the land to be used only for the construction of the temple, and now, it should be done through a law,” Kumar said, adding that the VHP and its allied organisations don’t need cash or even a single penny from the government for the temple’s construction as people from across the country would donate for this “noble cause”.

With inputs from PTI