Sants, seers raise Ayodhya pitch, will meet Amit Shah soon

New Delhi: Continuing to raise the pitch on the Ram mandir issue, the saints and seers of various akhadas and sects who have launched a campaign demanding that the Centre should either bring in an ordinance or a law for the construction of the Ram Mandir at Ayodhya will be meeting BJP president Amit Shah later this month with their demand.

The Akhil Bhartiya Sant Parishad on Sunday demanded the Narendra Modi should bring either promulgate an ordinance or enact a law for the temple, while a similar demand was put up by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s high-powered committee of saints and seers recently.

Meanwhile, stepping up its move to corner the Congress over Hindutva and Ram Mandir, the BJP on Monday accused senior Congress leader P. Chidambaram of “mocking” the “Ram temple initiative” and Sardar

Vallabhbhai Patel’s statue, saying the former Union minister’s comments were “highly irresponsible and very provocative”.

Senior BJP leader and Union law minister Ravi Shankar Prasad said it was a case of “classic hypocrisy” that while Congress president Rahul Gandhi visits temples and portrays himself as a “Shiv bhakt”, a senior leader of his party was making such comments. Mr Prasad’s attack on the Congress came after Mr Chidambaram tweeted to target the Modi government.

“At the beginning of five years, the promise is for Development, Jobs and Money in every citizen’s bank account. Nothing achieved, at the end of five years, the new promise is for grand Temples, giant Statues and Doles,” the Congress leader tweeted.

Mr Prasad said the Congress leader was obviously mocking the Ram temple initiative and Sardar Patel’s Statue of Unity, the tallest in the world.

“Please stop it. Don’t play with sentiments,” he said, asking Mr Gandhi to make his stand clear on the issue and demanding that he and his mother Sonia Gandhi express regret.

The senior BJP leader claimed there cannot be a bigger insult to Patel and asked why the Congress had reacted in such a manner to his one statue when hundreds of schemes, awards, scholarships, among other recognition, are named after the Nehru-Gandhi family. Mr Prasad alleged that the Congress had worked to erase Patel’s legacy and that the BJP was proud that the biggest statue in his memory was built under the Modi government.

He also objected to Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge drawing a parallel between Mr Modi and Nazi dictator Adolf Hitler, and said it was due to the party’s frustration and its impending defeat in the coming elections. Polls are due in five states later this month and in December, which will be followed by the Lok Sabha elections.

Taking a dig at Mr Kharge, the minister said he cannot take one step without the permission of his party’s ruling family, while the BJP was run on democratic principles.