Ram temple will only be built under Congress regime: Harish Rawat

Former Uttrakhand Chief Minister and senior Congress leader Harish Rawat on Thursday claimed that the Ram temple in Ayodhya will be built only under the Rahul Gandhi led party's regime.

"The people in Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) always disrespect dignity; those who destroy dignity cannot be devotees of Lord Ram. We are the ones who establish dignity, respect the constitution. When Congress comes into power only then will the Ram temple be built," Rawat told reporters here.

Meanwhile, the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) mocked the BJP-led government at the Centre for the delay in the construction of the temple in Ayodhya and said the temple will now be built in 2025.

RSS General Secretary Bhaiyaji Joshi had on Thursday said that after the construction of the Ram temple in 2025, the country would start developing rapidly .

The RSS believes that Prime Minister Narendra Modi led government at the Centre would not take needed steps towards the construction of the temple even if they win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls.

However, on January 13 BJP General Secretary Ram Madhav came in defence of the Prime Minister who accused Congress of stalling the Ram Janambhoomi case in the Supreme Court and reiterated that his party is committed towards constructing Ram temple in Ayodhya.

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.

The Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court in its September 30, 2010, verdict ordered that the disputed site be divided into three parts -- one for deity (Ramlala Virajmaan), another for Nirmohi Akhara - a Hindu sect - and a third one, to the original litigant in the case for the Muslims.

The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute case has been pending before the apex court for last eight years. Parties in the case and various right-wing organisations have been asking for an early or day-to-day hearing for a long time.

There are as many as 14 appeals pending in the apex court against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement, delivered in four civil suits.

Recently, the Supreme Court recently fixed January 29 as the next date of hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute after Justice UU Lalit recused himself from hearing the case.