Mumbai: By raking up the Ram Mandir issue, Shiv Sena has decided to pressurise its ally Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) for the construction of the temple at Ayodhya.
Senior Shiv Sena MP, Sanjay Raut on Thursday said, “The BJP-led NDA has formed the government by winning record 352 seats. Now is the time to construct the Ram Mandir.”
“I feel this time around Ram temple’s construction will begin because if we don’t, the country will stop trusting us. Now that BJP has 303 MPs, Shiv Sena has 18, NDA has more than 350, what more is needed to begin the temple construction?” he added.
According to party sources, the Sena wants to maintain the pressure on the BJP for the construction of Ram Mandir.
After securing a majority in the Lok Sabha polls, the Modi government should give priority for the construction of the temple, the source added.
Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is set to visit Ayodhya with all 18 Lok Sabha MPs of his party before the beginning of the monsoon session of Parliament. The party chief wants to offer prayers to Lord Shri Ram for the party’s impressive performance in the Lok Sabha polls. However, the schedule of his tour is not yet finalised and will be announced soon.
Mr Thackeray had visited Ayodhya in November 2018 and demanded that Ram temple be constructed at the disputed site before the Lok Sabha election.
The Sena has always maintained that Ram temple was an important issue for them. It has been repeatedly demanding the construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya and had even slammed its alliance partner BJP several times for the delay in the temple plans.
