The Bharatiya Janata Party invariably raises the Ram temple issue before general election but not so this time as it is “not an issue” and the party would wait for the Supreme Court verdict. The 2019 Lok Sabha election would therefore be fought on the plank of development.
This was stated by BJP leader and Deputy Chief Minister Dinesh Sharma on Saturday.
Sharma said that Ram temple was an issue of Hindu faith and the BJP, in its 2014 poll manifesto, had made it clear that it would follow the wishes of different parties in the Ayodhya dispute or follow the Supreme Court’s guidelines.
“Several times, people sat together to mediate on the dispute but unfortunately the exercise failed. And that is the reason why we are looking at Supreme Court to give its verdict on the temple issue,” said Sharma, the former Mayor of Lucknow.
Commenting on the Bahujan Samaj Party-Samajwadi Party-Rashtriya Lok Dal alliance in Uttar Pradesh, Sharma said, “These parties look different from the outside but they are the same from within. Their only motive is to stop Prime Minister Narendra Modi from returning to power.”
“They (BSP-SP and Congress) have not announced their alliance publicly but are functioning as alliance partners from the inside,” he maintained.
The BJP and its ally Apna Dal (Sonelal) had won 73 of the state’s 80 Lok Sabha seats in 2014, the Congress had won two and the SP five.
Taking a jibe at the recently-appointed Congress general secretary Priyanka Gandhi Vadra’s meeting with Bhim Army chief Chandrashekhar Azad, Sharma said, “By supporting caste parties like Bhim Army and others, the Congress is trying to breathe air into such parties which were sidelined by Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath.”
Sharma said that due to the BJP’s ‘Sabka Saath Sabka Vikas’ mantra in 2014 and its policy to move away from caste or community politics, there had been no communal riot in the state in the last three years.
Meanwhile, BJP MP from Unnao, Sakshi Maharaj, said that the Lok Sabha polls would be fought in the name of the country and there would be no election after that.
“The Modi tsunami has awakened the country. I feel there will be no election in 2024. This is the only election and we are fighting in the name of the country with honesty,” Sakshi Maharaj said during a party programme on Friday.
Known for making controversial remarks, the parliamentarian said that the Modi wave of 2014 had turned into tsunami in 2019 and no one could stop him from becoming prime minister again.
“I think the results will be better than that of the previous election. Some people are doing all kind of things... bringing Priyanka (Gandhi Vadra) or forging alliances, but our leader is Modi and everyone has been saying ‘Modi hai to desh hai’,” Sakshi Maharaj said
