Spell out date for Ram temple construction, says Uddhav Thackeray in Ayodhya

In what sounded like a dare to the BJP government, Uddahv said first say when will you construct the temple, the rest we will talk later.

AYODHYA, November 24: Arriving here ahead of a planned VHP rally for a Ram temple, Shiv Sena Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray asked the Narendra Modi government on Saturday to spell out the date when it will be constructed.

“Day, months, years and generations have passed,” he said.

“Mandir wahin baneyenge, par date nahin batayenge (You say you will make the temple there, but won’t tell the date),” he said.

“First say when will you construct the temple, the rest we will talk later,” he said in what sounded like a dare to the Bharatiya Janata Party government ahead of next year’s Lok Sabha elections.

Thackeray arrived in Ayodhya for a two-day visit. He is scheduled to visit the makeshift Ram Temple and participate in the ‘Dharma Sabha’ arranged by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Sunday.

The Shiv Sena has demanded an ordinance or executive order for the construction of a Ram temple and claims it has the support of more than 400 members of Parliament cutting across party lines.

On Friday, ahead of the saffron camp in this temple town, Shiv Sena’s Rajya Sabha lawmaker Sanjay Raut had created a flutter by saying when Babri Masjid could be demolished in 17 minutes, why it was taking so long for a law to build a temple there. “We demolished the Babri Masjid in 17 minutes but for paper work why it is taking so much time…for drafting a law or ordinance,” he had told reporters.

Raut demanded that the government enact a law for “quick construction of a grand Ram temple” in Ayodhya.