BJP MP to bring private member's bill on Ram temple

BJP Rajya Sabha MP Rakesh Sinha on Thursday said that he would bring a private member's bill in Parliament for construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and dared the Opposition to clarify their stand on the issue.

Sinha, an RSS ideologue recently given a Rajya Sabha berth, said he was writing the preface of the proposed bill.

"Will write preface (introduction) of my private member's bill on Ram temple in Ayodhya. Request those asking the date (when construction of Ram temple would start) to send me feedback," Sinha said in a tweet.

Various Hindutva bodies, including the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, have upped the pressure on the Modi government over the past few weeks to bring a legislation for construction of Ram temple.

"Will Rahul Gandhi, Sitaram Yechury, Lalu Prasad, Mayawati support the private member bill on Ayodhya? They frequently ask the date (as to when construction of Ram temple will start). Now the onus is on them," Sinha tweeted.

He said a legislation for building a grand Ram Mandir in Ayodhya had been necessitated as the Supreme Court, which was hearing the matter, was taking too long to decide.

"How many days the Supreme Court took to give verdict on Article 377, Jallikattu, Sabarimala? But Ayodhya is not a priority for decades. It is a top priority for Hindu society," Sinha said.

Reacting to development, Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut said that one MP cannot make a law and it was for the government to enact a legislation to build Ram temple in Ayodhya.

"An MP cannot make a law through a private member's bill. The government has to do it. That is what Shiv Sena is demanding. Enough politics has been done over the issue in the last 25 years. Whenever elections come, they speak of Ram Mandir. But Ram is still in vanvaas (exile)," Raut told CNN-News18 TV channel.

"You make a temple at Ayodhya for Ram. If you can't, tell the people that you had just made a false promise," he added.

On the pendency of the matter in the apex court, the Sena MP said if a law is enacted, the court's issue would be rendered meaningless.

"It's not easy to accept the court's verdict for anyone. No court can decide the matter of faith," he said.

Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Sambit Patra said the BJP stood by its resolve to construct a Ram temple in Ayodhya "through constitutional measures".

"Any bill which is to come in future is the property of Parliament. Commenting on that will not be fair. As for the BJP's resolve to construct the Ram temple, we have pledged since 1989 that we will, through constitutional measures, strive for the construction of the temple. We stand by it," Patra said.

Senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram, however, said if the government brought an Ordinance on Ram Mandir, it would be "unconstitutional" and an "adventurous action".

--IANS

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