Govt's SC petition on Ayodhya land to placate saints

The NDA government's petition in the Supreme Court seeking transfer of the acquired land around the disputed site in Ayodhya to the Ram Janambhoomi Trust seems to be aimed at placating the saints ahead of the proposed 'dharm sansad' (religious parliament) of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) at Kumbh beginning from Thursday.

Around five thousand saints and seers from across the country were expected to attend the two-day 'dharm sansad'. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is also expected to be present at the meeting, according to sources.

Sources in the VHP said that the Ram Temple issue would be discussed at length at the 'dharm sansad' and a date for the Temple construction would also be announced.

''The saint community will set a date for starting Ram Temple construction...the government should enact a law for Ram Temple construction immediately,'' said a senior VHP leader while speaking to Deccan Herald here.

Barely a few days back, another meeting of the seers at Kumbh had slammed the BJP for its ''inaction'' in the Ram Temple issue.

State BJP leaders here said that centre's move would help, ''to some extent douse'' the anger within the saint community against the saffron party.

The saints had warned that BJP would have to face the consequences of failing to ensure construction of Ram Temple even when the party was in power at the centre as well as in the state.

The 'dharm sabha' (religious meeting) at Ayodhya in November last year had also cautioned the saffron party against ''dilly-dallying'' on making a law for the Temple construction.

Mahant Narendra Giri, president of the All India Akhara Parishad (AIAP), an apex body of seers in the country, said that BJP would ''lose'' support of the Hindus if Ram Temple construction did not start before the forthcoming Lok Sabha polls.

''BJP will find it very difficult to explain its failure on the Ram Temple issue to the people when they seek votes from them,'' the Mahant added.

Political analysts also felt that BJP had been pushed to a corner by the saints on the Temple issue and had to ''do something'' to ''keep them in good humour''.

''By seeking transfer of a portion of the disputed land to the Ram Janambhoomi Trust, the BJP conveyed the message that it was with the saint community on this issue,'' said Pradeep Kapur, a Lucknow based media analyst.