Pushing for ordinance on Ram temple incorrect, should wait for SC order: Athawale

Union Minister of State for Social Justice Ramdas Athawale on Monday said bringing ordinance for the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya will not be right as the matter is sub judice.

Acknowledging the demand of the Hindu community to build a Ram temple in his birthplace, the minister said the construction of the temple should be done after taking the local Muslim community into confidence.

“I do not think bringing ordinance on the temple will be the right decision. We sould wait for the Supreme Court’s verdict. People should accept the apex court judgement,” said Athawale, the president of Republican Party of India.

“The demand of the Hindu society to build a temple of Lord Ram in Ayodhya is legitimate and that should be accepted. But the Muslim community living there should also be taken into confidence. The government should look for a solution through meaningful discussion with the Muslims living there,” he said.

“Any attempt to build the temple by taking law in one’s own hand is not permissible,” he said.

A congregation of Hindu seers on Sunday demanded the government bring an ordinance or a law for construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, and vowed to hold meetings across the country to rally public sentiments in the matter.

A number of Bharatiya Janata Party ministers, including Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath, seconded the demand.

Taking a dig at Congress of not taking a clear stand on issues such as construction of Ram temple or the Sabarimala temple, Athawale said Rahul Gandhi is busy in blaming the Centre on the Rafale fighter jet deal.

“Congress and its president Rahul Gandhi are busy in scamming the Centre on the Rafale issue. They are silent on issues like Sabarimala and the Ram Mandir. They are not playing a proper role,” he alleged.

Pointing out that temples and masques co-exist in many places in the country, the minister said the government should look for finding a similar solution in Ayodhya.

Talking about the proposed ‘Mahagathbandhan’ or grand alliance of opposition parties against the BJP in the 2019 elections, the minister claimed the alliance would not work because many parties in it would not accept Congress President Rahul Gandhi as a prime ministerial candidate.

“There have been a lot of discussions about the Mahagathbandhan ahead of 2019 elections. But the so-called alliance has no basis. I think the parties in the alliance have a lot of prime ministerial candidates and all the parties are not ready to accept Rahul Gandhi as the candidate. That’s why it would not work,” the Dalit leader from Maharashtra said.

He also claimed that the NDA government will emerge victorious under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi in 2019 while the BJP alone will win more than 300 Lok Sabha seats.