RSS-BJP raising Ram temple issue now because polls are near: Togadia

After Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat demanded a law to enable the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya, firebrand Hindu leader Pravin Togadia on Thursday questioned why such a law was not enacted in the last four and a half years of BJP rule.

The RSS is raising the issue now because elections are around the corner and the BJP government's performance is dismal, Togadia, who quit the Vishwa Hindu Parishad earlier this year, alleged.

Bhagwat demanded in his annual Vijayadashami speech in Nagpur on Thursday that the Centre bring a law to pave the way for Ram temple.

"Why the Ram Temple law was delayed for four and a half years despite BJP having a full majority in Parliament?" Togadia, who now heads the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, said in a statement.

"After failure of the BJP-led government at the Centre on all fronts, and with elections approaching in several states and (for) Parliament in 2019, the issue of Ram temple is being raised," he said.

Calling the BJP "RSS's party", he said its governments at the Centre and in states have "faltered on almost all promises of so-called development".

Several sections of society are upset due to its "knee-jerk" policies, "so now the party and its mother organisation remember Bhagwan Ram?" the statement said.

He alleged that earlier those who were pressing for a law for Ram temple were forced to remain silent.

"In a special meeting called by RSS in Bhopal with us in October 2017, we were categorically told to shut up on the Ram temple law in Parliament," Togadia claimed.

"For demanding the law, I and (other) Ram (temple) law supporters were punished by the same organisation," he said.

The Centre should bring an ordinance for Ram temple immediately, he demanded.