Announce date for Ram temple construction: Sena to BJP

The Shiv Sena Friday asked the BJP to come out with an ordinance and declare a date for the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya.

While slamming the BJP, the Sena said those in power should be proud of Shiv Sainiks who had "destroyed Babur's raj in Ram Janmabhoomi". The Babri Masjid was built in Ayodhya n the orders of Mughal emperor Babur.

In an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana', the Sena said it neither moves around with a begging bowl asking for votes in the name of Lord Ram nor does it indulge in "jumlebaazi" (rhetoric) during polls.

Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray is scheduled to visit Ayodhya on November 25 as part of his party's push to build a Ram temple there.

"Why did those, who call themselves pro-Hindutva, start getting a stomach ache when we announced our plans of going to Ayodhya? We are not going there for political purposes," the Sena said in the editorial.

It claimed the party had not given the slogan "Chalo Ayodhya", but Shiv Sainiks were going there for Lord Ram's darshan and also because Ayodhya is "nobody's private place".

"There is no Ram raj there now, but the raj of the Supreme Court. However, in 1992, Balasaheb's Shiv Sainiks had destroyed Babur's raj in Ram Janmabhoomi. Instead of being scared and jealous of such Sainiks, those in power should be proud of them," the Sena editorial claimed.

It further said that instead of casting aspersions on the motive of Sainiks going to Ayodhya, the government should declare a date for the construction of the temple and put all suspicions to rest.

"We ask you ask once again, why don't you declare a date for the construction of the Ram temple? If the issue of Ram temple goes out of your hands, in 2019, apart from your 'rozi-roti' (livelihood), many people's tongues too will become handicapped," the editorial warned.

"Instead of doing everything to stop the Sena, we ask again, why don't you come out with an ordinance and declare a date for the construction of the temple," the editorial stated.