Vikas or Ram temple: Which one will succour BJP to come back to power in 2019

Lucknow: Two days after Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi stressed on the vikas (development) mantra of Prime Minister Narendra Modi to help the BJP to come back to power once again in 2019, a powerful Hindu priest on Tuesday has challenged the ruling regime to construct the Ram temple in the disputed site of Ram Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya, Uttar Pradesh, if it wants to stay in power. 

Mahant Paramhans Das told ANI that if the BJP did not build the temple then Hindu priests would start a movement to defeat the saffron party in the upcoming General elections in 2019. "If they (the BJP) want to come back to power in 2019 then they have to build the Ram temple, else we will start a movement and make sure they are defeated," the Mahant told ANI while reacting to minority affairs minister's Sunday statement when he said that development will be the only issue in the 2019 elections. Replying to a question on the issue of Ram temple and Hindutva, Naqvi said, "Vikas, vikas and vikas will be our prime agenda for the 2019 elections." Talking to reporters, the minister added that PM Modi and the BJP government are focused on the development of the country. 

The statement of Naqvi seemed to have irked the Hindu priests who were promised by the BJP during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls that the Ram temple would be constructed if the saffron party comes to power. In fact, building the Hindu temple in the disputed site of Ayodhya has been a core issue of the BJP in almost all the elections. After coming to power neither PM Modi nor his cabinet colleagues have explicitly said anything about building the temple. Rather PM Modi has always stressed on vikas as his biggest political mantra. In Uttar Pradesh also, the Yogi Adityanath government has been asked by the Hindu Yuva Vahini to expedite the construction of the temple or else the Hindu outfit will sever its ties with the BJP. The Hindu Yuva Vahini, a youth organisation, was founded by Adityanath in Gorakhpur. The matter regarding the building of Ram temple in Ayodhya is pending with the Supreme Court.