BJP's assurances on Ram temple have 'very little credibility', party's plan is to 'sharpen communal polarisation', says Sitaram Yechury

New Delhi: After Prime Minister Narendra Modi suggested that a decision on an ordinance on the Ram temple in Ayodhya could only be taken after the completion of the judicial process, Communist Party of India (Marxist) (CPM) general secretary Sitaram Yechury on Tuesday said the assurances given by the BJP had very little credibility. He also alleged that sharpening communal polarisation was the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) only plan. [caption id=“attachment_4334507” align=“alignleft” width=“380”] File image of CPM leader Sitaram Yechury. News18[/caption] In a televised interview on Tuesday, Modi suggested that any decision on an ordinance on a Ram temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh could be taken only after the completion of the judicial process, while asserting that the government was ready to make all efforts to fulfil its responsibility. The prime minister’s comments came amidst heightened demands by Hindutva organisations, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), for an ordinance for early construction of the temple. Reacting to Modi’s remarks, Yechury said, “We heard the BJP CM in 1992 give false assurances on protecting the Babri Masjid. After the demolition, it was claimed as a success by them. These assurances by the BJP have very little credibility.” “After having destroyed the economy and ruined people’s livelihoods, sharpening communal polarisation is the BJP’s only plan. This will not be allowed to succeed,” he added. In 1992, BJP’s Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. On Modi’s comment that the 2019 Lok Sabha polls will be about the janta (people) versus the gathbandhan (alliance), Yechury said the battle lines of the contest were clear — it was the ruinous policies of the Modi government versus the people of India. Slamming the prime minister over demonetisation, he said Modi’s claim that the move had eliminated black money was “preposterous”. “Modi facilitated black money hoarders to whitewash illegal cash holdings. People who ought to have been penalised were rewarded at the expense of destroying livelihoods of crores of Indians,” Yechury tweeted.