Open for other options if SC doesn't fast track Ram temple case: Ram Madhav

The BJP would have to look for 'other options' to build Ram Temple at Ayodhya if the Supreme Court doesn't fast-track the Ayodhya case and conclude it at earliest, said BJP general secretary Ram Madhav on Wednesday.

"The option of an ordinance has always been there but right now the matter is before the Supreme Court and Supreme Court has given January 04 as the date to decide about the next bench," said Ram Madhav.

The apex court is scheduled to take up next week the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case along with public interest litigation questioning delay in the adjudication of the matter.

The top court's bench headed by Chief Justice Ranjan Gogoi will decide on "fixing the date of hearing before the appropriate bench".

"We are hoping that in a very fast track way the SC will take up the matter and conclude it early. If that doesn't happen then we have to look for other options. That Ram Temple should be built at Ayodhya is a commitment that BJP has supported 20-30 years ago," said Madhav.

The Babri Masjid, built by Mughal Emperor Babur in 1578 in Ayodhya was on December 6, 1992, pulled down allegedly by a group of Hindu activists, claiming that the mosque was constructed after demolishing a Ram temple that originally stood here. Since then, several hearings have been held in the Supreme Court to resolve the issue.

In 2010, the Allahabad High Court said that the disputed site in Ayodhya should be divided into three parts, with two-thirds given to Hindus and one-third to Muslims.

In 2011 the Supreme Court suspended this ruling following the appeals by both Hindu and Muslim groups. Since then, at least 14 petitions have also challenged the ruling.

The apex court in September this year, while ruling on a separate case, remarked that the mosque was "not integral to Islam", a point that bolstered the demand for the construction of Ram temple at the disputed site.