Union home minister Amit Shah on Friday referred to the firing on karsevaks (volunteers) in 1990 during the campaign to build a Ram Temple in place of Babri Masjid in Ayodhya and asked voters to question Samajwadi Party (SP) chief Akhilesh Yadav what was the need for it when he comes to seek votes. Yadav’s father, Mulayam Singh Yadav, was the chief minister when police fired on the volunteers.
“For ages, a large number of people sacrificed their lives for the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. But temple never came up. But now a magnificent Ram Mandir is being constructed at the birthplace of Lord Ram,” said Shah at a rally in Ayodhya.
Shah referred to the ongoing income tax raids in Uttar Pradesh and attacked SP saying there was earlier “mafia raj in Uttar Pradesh” but now they are surrendering to police. He listed the development projects of chief minister Yogi Adityanath government’s government and added they include five expressways. Shah said the Ayodhya airport project was going on and the town’s railway station was under renovation. He announced a university named after Lord Ram would be constructed in Ayodhya.
He listed the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s semi-autonomous status among the achievements of Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s government. “When the Modi government scrapped Article 370 (for the revocation)… entire Opposition including Congress, Communists and (West Bengal chief minister) Mamata Banerjee opposed the decision.” He attacked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi for asking for proof for strikes across the border in Pakistan.
Shah said the support of people in Uttar Pradesh helped the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) form the government at the Centre in 2014 and 2019 as well as in the state in 2017. “Now, for the fourth time, support BJP and help Yogi Adityanath become the chief minister again.”
Earlier, Shah visited Hanuman Garhi Temple in Ayodhya, where chief priest Ramesh Das performed Vedic rituals and the under-construction Ram Temple. Champat Rai, the general secretary of the trust overseeing the construction, briefed Shah about the ongoing work.