The Hindu : Mahajan seeks early verdict on temple issue

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Friday, Oct 17, 2003

National

National

Mahajan seeks early verdict on temple issue

By K. Balchand

PATNA Oct. 16. The BJP general secretary, Pramod Mahajan, today said that a Ram temple would be constructed with the approval of the law at the disputed site in Ayodhya and urged the judiciary to pronounce it verdict on the issue at the earliest.

Addressing party workers after the formal election of the new Bihar unit chief, Gopal Narain Singh, Mr. Mahajan, categorically ruled out the possibility of construction of a masjid at the disputed site. ``When no mosque could be built and there is already a small mandir there, I don't understand the difficulty in raising the size of the temple there.''

Whatever the VHP might say about the court's ruling, the BJP would accept it. ``We urge the courts to dispose of the case at the earliest.'' There were seven Union Ministers present on the rostrum when Mr. Mahajan was delivering the speech, besides Kalraj Mishra, who is in-charge of the party's Bihar affairs.

Pointing out that the left and other parties had changed the law in the Shahbanu case reversing the Supreme Court's ruling, he asked ``why can't we do it in this case?''

Referring to the VHP's demand for an immediate approval of the Parliament for the construction of a Ram temple, Mr. Mahajan said ``it was not possible for 200 MPs to do the job of 500. Jitna atta hai utna hi roti banega.'' He made it clear that numbers were required for such an initiative.

He said that his party would never allow the Congress president, Sonia Gandhi, to become the Prime Minister of the country. ``Atal Bihari Vajpayee did not marry to serve the country, while Sonia Gandhi married to come to India,'' said.

Meanwhile, the district administration dismantled the festoons and propaganda materials on the ground that it was in violation of the moral code of conduct and filed an FIR against the district chief of the BJP, Vishwanath Bhagat. The action was in the light of the by-election being held in Fatuha Assembly constituency of the district.

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