Modi to attend Aishbagh Ramlila in Lucknow

This will be the first visit by any Prime Minister

In a marked departure from the precedent prime minister Narendra Modi was likely to attend Dussehra celebrations in poll bound Uttar Pradesh instead of Delhi and witness the historic Aishbagh Ramlila in Lucknow on October 11. The visit, if it takes, place, will be the first by any prime minister.

According to the Aishbagh Ramlila Committee, the prime minister may visit the Ramlila on the last day and spend some time there. Modi was also likely to be present at 'Ravana Dahan' (burning of effigy of Ravana, the demon king on Dussehra) in the state capital.

Much political significance was being attached to Modi's visit to the state capital and attend the historic Aishbagh Ramlila. Although the BJP leaders here maintained that Modi's program was at the invitation of the Ramlila Committee and had nothing to do with politics, the ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress saw it as an ''attempt to rake up the Ram temple issue''.

''The prime minister's visit is purely apolitical...so far there is no other program except witnessing the Ramlila and Ravan Dahan,'', said a senior state BJP leader here while speaking to Deccan Herald. He, however, added that the PM's visit was yet to be finalised.

The SP, however, was not convinced. ''BJP has always tried to rake up the temple issue before the polls...there is nothing new in it,'', said a senior SP leader here. Congress leaders also echoed similar sentiments.

BJP has earned the wrath of the saffron outfits for what they alleged ''abandoning'' the Ram Temple issue. The All India Hindu Mahasabha has even declared that it will oppose the BJP nominees in the next assembly polls in UP if the latter did not take a clear stand on the issue.

UP BJP president Keshav Prasad Maurya has said that Ram Temple was ''never on the electoral agenda'' of the party.

Senior BJP leader and union minister Kalraj Mishra, however, said that BJP was ''committed'' to the Ram Temple construction. ''Development will be our plank in the forthcoming UP assembly polls....as far as Ram Temple is concerned...it has always been on top of our priority,'' he had said recently.

Maurya was under so much pressure from a section of the party as well as the saint community that he visited the temple town of Ayodhya a few days back and declared that the BJP had not ''abandoned'' the issue. The saffron outfits and a section of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) have been pressing the BJP for enactment of a law by the Parliament to pave the way for the construction of the temple.