SP leader pledges Rs.10 lakh, gold crown for Ram temple

Senior Samajwadi Party (SP) leader Bukkal Nawab on Friday created a flutter, saying he wished that a grand Ram temple should be built at Ayodhya.

A close associate of SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav, Nawab went on to say that when the construction of the Ram temple begins, he would personally donate Rs.10 lakh for it and gift a gold crown for the idol of Lord Ram.

He also said whenever elections are nearing, political parties, especially the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), begin talking about the temple's construction for electoral gains.

Time has come for the like-minded and peace-loving people to come forward and settle the issue once and for all.

The SP leader, who is also a member of the legislative council, said regardless of being a Muslim, he held great reverence for Lord Rama.

Earlier, a SP leader Ompal Nehra, advisor to the entertainment department and holding a minister of state status, was sacked by Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav last year after he appealed to the Muslim community to come forward and facilitate the construction of the Ram temple.

The statement of the SP leader comes in the backdrop of many BJP and Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leaders claiming that a blueprint for the Ram temple at the disputed site was ready and the construction would begin by late this year.

The SP and the BJP have officially maintained the dispute has to be settled by the Supreme Court.