Ram Temple no more an issue in Ayodhya

Political outfits may have reaped rich dividends from it in the past but Ram Temple movement is not an issue in Lord Ram's own backyard.

By PTI | May 04, 2007, 10.30 AM IST

Political outfits may have reaped rich dividends from it in the past but Ram Temple movement is not an issue in Ayodhya assembly constituency going to the polls on May 8 in the last phase of polling.

Instead, caste and religious equations are likely to play a key role in deciding the fate of the contestants. "No party dares to touch the Ram temple-Babri Masjid issue," says Khaliq Ahmed Khan, a special invitee member in the All India Muslim Personal Law Board, an apex body of the Muslims in the country.

Elaborating his contention, Khan says no progress had been made on resolving this vexed issue. The BJP had said it would construct a temple but it failed to keep its promise, he said.

The mahant of the famous Hanumangarhi temple Gyan Das echoes similar sentiment. "The BJP lacks the courage to raise the Ram temple issue for it knows that it had betrayed the people on this count," he said.

A discussion with a cross-section of the people of this temple town buttresses the mahant's claim that the polls here would be on caste and religious lines.

In fact, the decision of the rebel Samajwadi Party leader and Samajwadi Kranti Dal president Beni Prasad Verma to contest from here was prompted by the presence of a sizable number of kurmis in the constituency. "The kurmis will support Beni Babu," said Ram Kumar Verma, who owns a sweet shop in Naya Ghat area.

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Ram Temple no more an issue in Ayodhya

Political outfits may have reaped rich dividends from it in the past but Ram Temple movement is not an issue in Lord Ram's own backyard.

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