BSP plays Ram temple card, targets BJP
LUCKNOW : The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Friday played the Ram temple card to woo voters for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The elections are due early next year.
Launching the statewide Brahmin conference in Ayodhya on Friday, BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra said the saffron brigade had been raising funds for the construction of the Ram temple for the last 20 years. After the SC verdict of November 9, 2019, the foundation stone of the temple was laid in August last year.
“Again, a countrywide donation drive was launched by various outfits run by the ruling BJP. A year has passed, but there is no sign of the construction of the Ram temple,” he said. After it forms the government in 2022, the BSP will force the organisations that have raised funds for the temple to expedite the construction works, he added.
LUCKNOW: The Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) on Friday played the Ram temple card to woo voters for the 2022 assembly elections in Uttar Pradesh. The elections are due early next year.
Launching the statewide Brahmin conference in Ayodhya on Friday, BSP national general secretary Satish Chandra Mishra said the saffron brigade had been raising funds for the construction of the Ram temple for the last 20 years. After the Supreme Court verdict of November 9, 2019, the foundation stone of the temple was laid in August last year.
“Again, a countrywide donation drive was launched by various outfits run by the ruling BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party). A year has passed, but there is no sign of the construction of the Ram temple,” he said.
When the BSP formed a majority government in Uttar Pradesh in 2007, it constructed grand Dalit memorials within one-a-and-a-half years at various spots in the state, he said.
After it forms the government in 2022, the BSP will force the organisations that have raised large funds for the Ram temple to expedite the construction works, he added.
“The BSP government will ensure the outfits complete the construction of the Ram temple soon,” he said.
Mishra alleged that the BJP was doing politics over the Ram temple. He said the BJP government came to power at the Centre in 2014 and in Uttar Pradesh in 2017, but Ram Lalla (child Ram) remained in a makeshift temple, he said.
While the process for the construction of the Ram temple started after the Supreme Court verdict, the deity remained in a makeshift temple, he said.
[On March 25 last year, the deity Ram Lalla was relocated after 27 years from the makeshift temple to a pre-fabricated one within the Ram Janmabhoomi premises. Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath had attended the ceremony that took place on the first day of the nineday Navratri festival].
The BJP made political gains from the Ram temple issue but was seeking donations for the construction of the shrine whereas the government spent large funds on the construction of statues in Gujarat, Mishra said. “The BJP has sidelined the local mahants, sadhus and priests (in Ayodhya) who have been associated with the Ram temple movement. The BJP should give details of the funds collected for the Ram temple, make public the details of the design and the architecture of the temple,” he said.
He alleged that there was no transparency in the construction works. “The BJP has been exposed over the construction of the Ram temple,” Mishra said. He alleged that the BJP had deliberately slowed down the construction of the Ram temple to serve its political interests.
Calling for people of all communities to support the BSP in the 2022 assembly elections, he said the BSP government will pave the way for the construction of a grand Ram temple soon. “The BJP should know that people of all castes and communities have faith in Ram Lalla,” he said.
Mishra said the BSP will organise Brahmin conferences at “holy places” including Mathura, Vrindavan, Varanasi, Chitrakoot and Shravasti till October 15. The party will organise a massive Brahmin conference in Lucknow, he added.
Mishra called upon the Brahmin community to support the BSP in the coming assembly election. The BSP formed a majority government in 2007 with the support of Brahmins and the BSP government, in turn, gave important positions to Brahmins in the government and the party organisation, he said. Brahmins who constitute 13% of the state’s population and Dalits who make up 23% of the population will ensure the formation of a majority BSP government again, he said.
Alleging that Brahmins had been sidelined under the BJP government, Mishra alleged that “atrocities” on the community had increased. He recounted incidents of attacks on Brahmins in various districts of the state.
He termed Khushi Dubey, wife of Amar Dubey, as a symbol of the BJP government’s atrocities on the Brahmin community.
Amar Dubey, an associate of Bikru ambush case prime accused Vikas Dubey, was killed in a police encounter in July last year. Eight policemen were killed in an ambush during a raid on Vikas Dubey’s house at Bikru village in Kanpur on July 2-3 night last year. A few days later, Vikas Dubey was also killed in a police encounter.
Mishra said the BSP did not support attacks on policemen, but it would oppose the incarceration of a Brahmin woman for no fault of hers.
“Khushi is forced to stay in a two-room shelter home with 48 girls,” he said. Khushi Dubey is lodged in a Barabanki shelter home since July 8 last year. Her family members alleged that she was not involved in the attack on the police personnel, yet the state government had put her behind bars.
The BJP’s Brahmin leaders were forced by the state government to give statements against Khushi and other Brahmin victims, Mishra alleged.
“The time has come for the Brahmins to mull over their dignity, security and progress. They should support the BSP for a share in power,” he said.
Bhartiya Janata Party state unit spokesperson Sameer Singh said, “The Bahujan Samaj Party has been promoting the politics of caste in Uttar Pradesh. The party has nothing to do with the dignity of the Hindu community or the development of Hindu holy places. The Ram temple is a symbol of faith and pride of the Hindu community. The BJP government is committed to the construction of grand temple and the construction of the temple is continuing in full swing.”