BJP has given exile to Lord Ram for 21 years: Congress

The Congress Party on Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party(BJP) has given 21 years of exile to Lord Ram as the saffron party keep mentioning the construction of the temple in their election manifestos since 1996.

"The BJP has given exile to Lord Ram for 21 years since 1996. Even Lord Ram would have lost faith in the BJP. Who will wait for 21 long years. For past so many years they mention construction of Ram Mandir in their Manifesto," Congress leader Tom Vadakkan told ANI.

Mocking the BJP, Vadakkan said that their statement has become a slogan for Lord Ram as well.

"The people are going to ask these questions to BJP and again they are giving promises. This has even become Jumla(Slogan) for Lord Ram and for the people of Uttar Pradesh and not only that this promise has become a jumla for the people of India. Now the time has come they stop this," he added.

The BJP yesterday said that if voted to power in Uttar Pradesh, it will work towards construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya under "constitutional ambit".

Bharatiya Janata Party chief Amit Shah who released the party's manifesto for the assembly polls here said the party had spelled out its stance in the manifesto for the 2014 Lok Sabha polls.

"The BJP repeats its stand over Ram temple. If voted to power in UP then the party will construct Ram Mandir under the constitutional ambit," Shah said.

In its 2014 manifesto, the BJP had said that it will explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution to facilitate construction of the Ram Temple.