Rajnath Singh defends Shah on Ram temple

BJP president Rajnath Singh Saturday defended party general secretary Amit Shah who has pitched for a Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying he had only expressed his wish.

"What I got to know is that he said he wished a grand Ram temple is built. I would say, any Hindu, Muslim, Sikh or Christian, every religious person wants their religious structures to be grand," Rajnath Singh told reporters in Nagpur, after meeting Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.

"To express this wish is not wrong. Won't a Muslim want a grand mosque?" he told reporters.

He also added that the issue was "subjudice" in Supreme Court, but Lucknow High Court had "accepted that Lord Ram was born where his statue has been established".

Rajnath Singh also denied the party going back to it's "Hindutva agenda".

"What is Hindutva.. Supreme Court has defined it. It is not a religion, its a way of life," he said.

Party spokesperson Meenakshi Lekhi meanwhile said Ram temple has always been on the BJP's agenda.

"It has always been BJP agenda, and it is not a political issue, it an issue of faith of whole India," Lekhi said.

"We are very clear that a temple should be built... should it be built after court order, or by a ordinance or legislation, or by a meeting of political parties, that is to be decided," she told TV channel Times Now.