Some people think building temple will help eradicate COVID-19, says Sharad Pawar

Mumbai: Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar on Sunday said some people think building a temple will help eradicating the COVID-19 pandemic, a day after the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Teertha Kshetra Trust suggested two dates in the next month for laying the foundation stone for a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. The trust had invited Prime Minister Narendra Modi to lay the foundation stone either on 3 or 5 August. “Eradication of COVID-19 is the priority of the Maharashtra government, but some people think constructing a temple will help in its mitigation,” Pawar told reporters in Solapur when asked about the proposed date for laying of the foundation stone for a Ram temple. Meanwhile, Arvind Sawant, the Shiv Sena MP from Mumbai South, told news agency PTI that Lord Ram was a matter of faith for his party, and that it will not indulge in any politics over the issue. “Shiv Sena is a leading light of the Ram Mandir movement. (Sena president) Uddhav Thackeray had visited Ayodhya before becoming chief minister and even after taking charge,” he said. The Sena, the NCP and the Congress are partners in the Maha Vikas Aghadi (MVA) government. Sawant said ensuring health of people and providing them safety are priorities of the Sena-led state government, which is the concept of ‘Ramrajya’ (a rule of justice and truth). “….We are doing precisely this in our (the state government’s) fight against the coronavirus in Maharashtra,” he said.