BJP has time till 2019 to build grand Ram Janambhoomi Temple: RSS

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has said that the NDA Government has till 2019 to act on the issue of constructing a grand Ram Janambhoomi Temple in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh.

The BJP, in its election manifesto, had promised to build a temple on the site of a 16th century mosque that was torn down by Hindu zealots in 1992.

Hindus claim that the mosque was built on the birth place of Ayodhya's ancient monarch Ram, who is said to be an incarnation of Lord Vishnu.

In the aftermath of the destruction of the mosque, about 2,000 people were killed in riots across India.

Addressing media here, RSS joint general-secretary, Dattatreya Hosabale, said, "The government has ample time till 2019. They will act according to people's needs, their day to day needs. Once everything is done, the temple issue will be addressed."

About 80 percent of India's 1.1 billion plus population are Hindus, but Muslims represent 13 percent-some 140 million that put it behind Indonesia and Pakistan in the ranks of Muslim populations.

Meanwhile, Hosabale claimed that RSS workers had actively participated in relief and rescue operations in natural calamities in northern Jammu and Kashmir state, southern Andhra Pradesh state and northeastern Meghalaya state.

"In Jammu and Kashmir, Meghalaya and in coastal areas of Andhra Pradesh, Visakhapatnam and nearby areas people have suffered a lot and as usual RSS immediately extended their hand for relief work," he said.

Cyclone Hudhud smashed the coastline of southern state of Andhra Pradesh and eastern state of Odisha on Sunday (October 12), killing at least 25 people. It ripped apart tens of thousands of mud-and-thatch homes, flattened rice, banana and sugarcane plantations and snapped electricity lines.

At least 150 people died and more went missing in floods and landslides caused by heavy rains that lashed India's remote northeast, in the second flood tragedy to strike the subcontinent in September.

Both the Indian and Pakistani sides of the disputed Himalayan region saw extensive flooding in September with Srinagar particularly hard hit. Hundreds of people have been killed and tens of thousands are homeless.