AYODHYA : Having already lost its political sheen, cracks have begun to appear in the Ram mandir movement with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Dwarkapeeth Shankaracharya at loggerheads over the issue of temple construction.

The two appear to be charting a diametrically opposite course since Shankaracharya Swaroopanand Saraswati, along with Hindu `sadhus' and `sants' and some Muslims, undertook a ''parikrama' of Ramjanmabhoomi here on November 30.

The VHP, which claims to spearhead the movement, accused him of being ``an agent'' of the Congress-led UPA Government and trying to get ``political mileage'' out of the movement even as Uttar Pradesh heads for Assembly elections early next year. The Shankaracharya's camp claims the VHP has no locus standi in the dispute as it is not a party in the Ram Janambhoomi-Babri Masjid title suits pending in the Lucknow Bench of the Allahabad High Court.

To the VHP's discomfiture, BJP general secretary Vinay Katiyar and former Bajrang Dal convener, associated with the temple movement since the early 1990s, also attended the Dwarka seer's programme. Moreover, devotees from tribal belts of Jharkhand, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Orissa and other States undertook the ritual circumambulation in traditional attire, chanting "Jai Sitaram" and "Shankaracharya ki jai." — PTI

Printer friendly page  
Send this article to Friends by E-Mail