Foundation day of Ram Temple on April 2?

Ram Temple Trust President Nritya Gopal Das, a saint from Ayodhya, on Thursday led the trustees to meet PM Modi at his residence and told him he would try to organise the “bhoomipujan” (foundation laying) on the Ram Navmi falling on April 2.

He told the PM the final decision will be taken in the second 2-day meeting of the trust in Ayodhya on March 34. He invited Modi to lay the foundation stone and the Bhoomi Pujan.

Das informed the PM about the decisions taken in the first meeting of the trust in Delhi on Wednesday in which he and VHP vice-president Champat Rai were coopted and he later appointed Rai as the general secretary of the trust. He also pleaded to allow shifting of the Trust’s headquarters from Delhi to Ayodhya for the logistics.

While setting up the trust to oversee construction, the PM had deliberately excluded Swami Das and Champat Rai since they are accused in a criminal case of the Babri Mosque demolition pending before a Lucknow court. Sources said all trust members agreed to make them part of the trust, noting their organisations must be recognised for the movement that succeeded in construction.

Modi has the reputation of always uploading details of his important meetings on his Twitter handle but he chose not to say anything on his meeting with the trust whose most members are the Hindu saints. Meanwhile, Pejawar Mutt of Udupi has made an initial donation of Rs5 lakh towards the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya.