The ruling Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress in UP smelled a ‘conspiracy’ by the BJP behind what they termed as attempts to rake up the Ram Temple issue ahead of the 2017 Assembly elections.
Alarmed over the arrival of stones at a Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) workshop in Ayodhya, Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has sought a detailed report from the local administration.
Both the SP and Congress feel the BJP might again try to ‘polarise’ the voters along religious lines by raking up the emotive issue.
“It is an attempt by the BJP to vitiate the communal harmony in the state by whipping up passion through the Ram Temple issue to extract mileage in the next Assembly polls,” said a senior Congress leader here.
He added that the BJP always raked up the issue before elections. SP leader Shivpal Singh Yadav also accused the BJP of trying to disrupt communal amity in the state by raking up an issue which was in the Supreme Court and knowing fully well that nothing could be done there.
“We will not allow the BJP to inflame passion in the state and take stern action against those who try to destroy the communal fabric,” Yadav said on Tuesday.
Sources in the state police department said sleuths were keeping a close watch on the work of stone-carving at the VHP workshop at Ramsevak Puram in Ayodhya. A team of policemen and district officials also visited the workshop to make a first-hand assessment of the situation there.
BJP distances itself
The BJP, however, sought to distance itself from the issue saying the party had no knowledge about arrival of the stones in Ayodhya.
The VHP, on the other hand, clarified on Tuesday that the stone-carving work was not new and has been going on for several years.
Ram Janmabhoomi Trust chairman Nritya Gopal Das and some other saints had on Sunday performed ‘shilapujan’ of the stones at the VHP workshop, triggering strong reaction from the Muslim leaders.
Published 22 December 2015, 19:26 IST