New Delhi: The BJP raised its Ram Mandir pitch on Monday with two Union ministers supporting the construction of a temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya, months before Uttar Pradesh goes to the polls.
While Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma said he will visit the site on Tuesday, Water Resources Minister Uma Bharti said the disputed land "will always belong to Ram". A a press conference, she said there was no doubt that Ram was born in Ayodhya.
Party MP Vinay Katiyar, too, raised the issue, urging the Modi government to introduce a Bill in the Lok Sabha facilitating the construction of a Ram Temple at the site. He said the mandir (temple) had always been on the agenda of the BJP, which is aiming to wrest control of the state from the ruling Samajwadi Party next year.
The state government has identified a 25-acre plot for the museum which is some 15 km away from the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex, the Press Trust of India quoted a source as saying.
Though the BJP has been insisting that Ram temple will not be an electoral plank in the UP elections to be held early next year, the proposed Ramayana museum and related activities are being seen as an attempt to keep pro-Hindutva elements in good humour.
On Dussehra, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had, in a departure from tradition, participated in the festivities in Lucknow where he started and concluded his speech with chants of "Jai Shri Ram, Jai Jai Shri Ram".
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