Ram Mandir issue can't be ignored by Modi govt: BJP leader

Bharatiya Janata Party Rajya Sabha member from Uttar Pradesh Vinay Katiyar on Wednesday reiterated that the issue of Ram Mandir cannot be ignored by any government.

His comments came after he told Indian Express in an interview that if the ‘Ram Mandir issue was ignored any longer, then Ram bhakts would explode like a volcano’. In the interview, Katiyar said, “Is mudde ko abhi bhi ignore kiya gaya to Ram bhakto ka gussa Jwalamukhi bankar phoot sakta hai (If the issue is ignored, then the wrath of Ram followers will explode like a volcano).”

Katiyar said this is not a hard issue to deal with for the Narendra Mdoi government. The government officials can call all the parties involved and negotiation can take place, opined Katiyar.

A day earlier, BJP president Amit Shah said that the “core issue” of building a Ram temple in Ayodhya cannot be addressed. The party needs 370 seats in Parliament, according to the Constitution, to address these, said Shah.

Also last month, Home Minister Rajnath Singh had said in Ayodhya that the government would not be able to enact a law on this issue since the National Democratic Alliance did not have a majority in Rajya Sabha. 

Image: A Hindu activist walks past a temple wall, where devotees have written the name of Lord Ram, in Ayodhya. Photograph: Roy Madhur/Reuters