Without mention of Ayodhya and PM, no speech is complete from treasury benches, says CPM MP John Brittas

The firebrand Left leader accused the BJP of using Lord Ram for political gains.

New Delhi: CPM MP John Brittas on Wednesday said that no speech is complete from the treasury benches without mention of Ayodhya and the prime minister, as he accused the BJP of "using Lord Ram" for political gains.

During a debate on the motion of thanks on the President's address in Rajya Sabha, Brittas alleged that political programmes are being turned into religious programmes, and vice versa.

"You can't deceive Lord Rama. Because though you are harping on Rama your only intention is to have... to reap political benefits, nothing else," he said.

Brittas claimed that "without Ayodhya and without prime minister", no speech is completed from the treasury benches.

The Left MP said that the prime minister should stick to his duties and go to Manipur.

"The primary responsibility of PM is to give 'pran' to citizens, not the Gods. He should obviously stick to his duties... he should go to Manipur and conduct a `Pran Pratishtha' for citizens. That should be done first," he said asking BJP not to indulge in "political drama to just get some votes".

Brittas accused the BJP and RSS of "dismantling" institution after institution and described it as their pastime.

He further said his Ram is Mahatma Gandhi’s Ram of compassion, harmony and love.

"They all speak about Ram, Ram belongs to us also, not just yours. See my Ram is Mahatma Gandhi’s Ram of compassion, of harmony and love...," he said.

Shiv Sena (UBT) MP Arvind Ganpat Sawant said that the Ram temple has not been made possible today due to any single person and those who had not even gone there are claiming credit for it.

Participating in the debate in Lok Sabha, Sawant said that Lord Ram is 'niti' for many and 'rajniti' for others.

"We are happy about the Ram temple construction. We should also remember those who sacrificed their lives for the Ram temple. The temple construction has been made possible today not because of the efforts of one person.

"Those who had not gone there once are now saying they have done it. Lord Ram is love for us but for some people he is business. He is 'niti' (policy) for us while for some he is 'rajniti' (politics)," he said.

"We should not forget Manipur and we should not forget what happened with our players...their insult, we should not forget," he said.