ONLY BJP CAN BUILD RAM TEMPLE IN AYODHYA: YOGI

LUCKNOW: Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath on Sunday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) alone can build a Ram Temple in place of the demolished Babri Masjid in Ayodhya. “Let there be no doubt. Only we [the BJP] can construct the temple in Ayodhya. No other party will be able to build it,” Yogi said at an event in Lucknow amid slogans like “vote wahi payega, mandir jo banayega (whosoever constructs the will get votes)”.

“Those who flaunt ‘janeu’ [sacred thread] do such things for votes,’’ he added, referring to the Opposition Congress’s statement in November last year insisting the party’s chief, Rahul Gandhi, is a janeu-dhari or sacred threadwearing Hindu. The clarification had followed a row over Gandhi’s visit to Somnath Temple in Gujarat, where he was allegedly listed among non-hindu visitors.

Adityanath referred to alleged dismissal of Lord Ram and Lord Krishna’s existence and added do not expect those who do so to construct the temple. He criticised historians and intellectuals. “We were misinformed about our history. Now, we have the responsibility to correct it.”

He added Pushpak Viman, the flying chariot mentioned in the Hindu epic of Ramayana, is a reality and not a myth. “Sage Bhardwaj wrote ‘Viman Shastra’, which gives the theory of Pushpak Vimaan,” he said.

Adityanath spoke about the Kumbh Mela and claimed Hindu festivals were demeaned and Hindu traditions insulted. “Even Kumbh was termed as antiyouth, anti-dalit, anti-women and anti-environment...,” he said.