BJP will wait for Supreme Court verdict despite a ‘directive’ from the RSS to ensure early construction of Ram temple.
New Delhi: The Narendra Modi government is unlikely to issue an ordinance on Ram temple despite a Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh “directive” to this effect, highly placed sources in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) told ThePrint.
With the Supreme Court deferring the hearing on the Ram temple title suit, which pertains to the ownership of the contested land, to January 2019, there have been calls from the Hindu Right-wing for an ordinance or a bill to push through with the construction of a shrine on ‘Ram janmabhoomi’.
Many have voiced resentment with the BJP for failing to construct the temple, a key manifesto promise in 2014, despite having formed a majority government at the Centre.
Even so, senior BJP leaders told ThePrint that the party may not bring in an ordinance for the Ram temple because it would like to wait for the Supreme Court verdict — a stance Union Law Minister Ravi Shankar Prasad has maintained ever since the ordinance debate gained ground.
The BJP, sources said, did not want “instability” and a “riot-like situation” in an election year, hoping that a favourable verdict from the Supreme Court next year might help it ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.
“If an atmosphere of hope for the construction of Ram temple is built ahead of the polls, it certainly would help the BJP,” said a senior party leader.
Party sources, however, remained evasive when asked if the government might initiate a bill in the winter session of Parliament to build the temple.
Also read: Ram temple, Modi’s Kedarnath trip & now INS Arihant have handed narrative back to BJP
‘In a tricky spot’
The party reportedly hopes to use nominated Rajya Sabha member and RSS ideologue Rakesh Sinha’s proposed private member’s bill on the issue, likely to be moved in the winter session, to its advantage.
The winter session, the penultimate one of the 16th Lok Sabha, is likely to be scheduled in the first week of December, after the assembly polls in five states conclude.
Top BJP sources said the private member’s bill was brought in to put the opposition in a tricky spot, to force them to clear their stand on Ram temple.
“Had the government wanted to bring in an ordinance, the member who decided to bring in a private member’s bill… would have been told not to,” said a senior party leader.
“Plus, we can bring in a bill on Ram temple anytime if we want to. We can call a special session even after winter session is over,” the leader added.
Calls for the construction of the Ram temple have been getting louder as the 2019 elections draw closer. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, for one, has underscored its importance in no uncertain terms on at least two recent occasions.
In September, addressing an RSS event at New Delhi’s Vigyan Bhavan, Bhagwat had said that early construction of the temple was imperative “to eliminate disagreements between Hindus and Muslims”.
Then, in his annual Vijayadashami address, he called for an “appropriate law” to ensure its construction — a message seen as a direct order from Bhagwat to the Narendra Modi government.
Several senior RSS leaders, including Manmohan Vaidya, Suresh ‘Bhaiyyaji’ Joshi and Arun Kumar, have reiterated the sentiment, with many voices within the BJP bolstering the chorus further.
Also read: RSS’ Rakesh Sinha corners opposition on Ram temple with private member bill in Rajya Sabha
अयोध्या में राममंदिर का निर्माण करोड़ों हिन्दुओं की अभिलाषा है। जब सुप्रीम कोर्ट आधी रात में कर्नाटक सरकार से जुड़े फैसले कर सकती है, समलैंगिकों पर फैसला दे सकती है तो फिर राममंदिर का मामला वर्षों से क्यों अदालत में लटका है???
— Sushil Kumar Modi (@SushilModi) November 4, 2018
(Translation: Ram temple in Ayodhya is the desire of crores of Hindus. If the Supreme Court can allow a midnight hearing on the Karnataka government formation row, deliver a verdict on homosexuality, why has the Ram temple case been stuck in court for years?)
मुस्लिम समाज के 5% मौका परस्त धर्म गुरुओं के द्वारा ही अयोध्या में श्रीराम मंदिर का विरोध किया जा रहाहै,जबकि 95% मुस्लिम इसके समर्थन में है,वे चाहते है मस्जिद कही और बने ताकि साम्प्रदायिक सदभावना बनी रहें। जिसे इस इशू पर शंका हो वो इस पर जनमत करा ले. #RamMandirBill
— Dr. Syed Zafar Islam (@syedzafarBJP) November 4, 2018
(Translation: The opportunist Islamic religious authorities, which comprise five per cent of the Muslim population, are the only ones opposing the Ram temple. Ninety-five per cent of Muslims want the mosque built somewhere else to maintain communal harmony.)
Minister of state Giriraj Singh was quoted as saying that “no power in the world can stop the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya”. “People want the government and the court to find a way for constructing Ram temple.”
The BJP’s allies have already made it clear that the government should wait for the Supreme Court verdict before taking any step.
An association of seers recently “ordered” the government to bring in an ordinance or a bill for the construction of the Ram temple. However, in their resolution, they said the seer community would continue to lead the charge of the Ram temple movement, like they always had.
Wise not to rush into something as precipitate as issuing an Ordinance, which would have to pass the test of constitutionality before the same judicial forum that is now seized of the matter. The aversion to a riotous situation is also prudent. Sabarimala was a child’s crayon compared to what could unfold if the rule of law is disregarded on something we have seen unfold in the early nineties. To a lot of people, this new obsession with the Ram mandir, which played no role in the victory of 2014, betrays a profound nervousness when the Report Card is being drafted.