What is Shiv Sena doing about Ram temple issue, asks VHP chief

Reacting to the Shiv Sena's announcement that its leaders would visit Ayodhya on June 16 to offer prayers, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad Sunday asked what the party, an ally in the BJP-led governments at the Centre and in Maharashtra, planned to do about the construction of the Ram Temple.

VHP international president Vishnu Sadashiv Kokje said the Sena should offer the government "creative suggestions" which can pave the way for the building of the Ram temple in Ayodhya "as per Constitutional provisions".

"The Sena should also say what it is doing in this matter (Ayodhya dispute)," Kokje said.

"We have nothing to do with party politics on the Ram temple issue. But I believe that no party should play politics on this issue, because it is linked to the faith of millions of Hindus," Kokje told PTI, adding that his outfit was always in favour of building the temple at Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya under the purview of the Constitution.

"The government should take all possible steps, keeping social harmony and the faith of crores of people in mind, so that a legal solution can be reached at earliest," he said.

Kokje informed that the VHP's strategy on the Ram temple issue would be discussed during its 'Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal' in Haridwar on June 19-20.

In reply to a question, Kokje said people voted in a mature manner during Lok Sabha elections and that they were fully aware of the current situation in the Ram temple issue.

"The country's environment, which has changed in recent times, is in the interest of nationalism and concept of Hindutva," he said.