NEW DELHI: Hinting that the government is not considering an early ordinance to facilitate construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said the judicial process should take its own course even as he blamed previous Congress governments for stalling a resolution.In a wide-ranging interview to ANI, the Prime Minister said, “In court, Congress lawyers, who are obstacles, should stop. Let the judicial process take its own course. Don’t weigh it in political terms. Let the judicial process be over. After the judicial process is over, whatever our responsibility as the government, we are ready to make all efforts.”Asked whether an ordinance was not possible as in the case of making triple talaq punishable, the PM said, “Triple talaq ordinance was brought after the SC verdict, in light of the SC verdict. We have said in our BJP manifesto that a solution would be found... Nobody can deny that those sitting in government in the last 70 years have tried their best to stall a solution.”In suggesting that the judicial process — the SC is expected to decide on Friday when the Ayodhya title suit will be heard — should be allowed to play out, Modi seems to be making it clear that the court will not be pre-empted. Whether the government will pursue an ordinance or legislative route even if the SC gives an adverse ruling is unclear as is the timeline in the court where an appeal has been lying since 2010.The RSS described the PM’s views on the construction of Ram temple as a “positive step” towards the “long-pending desire” of Hindus. The saffron fountainhead, though, favoured a law in the current tenure of the BJP regime for the construction of the temple.BJP president Amit Shah had also said earlier that developments in court will have to be awaited, expressing the hope that appeals against the Allahabad high court ruling dividing the 2.77-acre plot three ways between idol Ram Lalla, Nirmohi Akhara and Sunni Waqf Board would be decided soon.Modi said the coming Lok Sabha election was one between “janata (people)” and the opposition alliance (Mahagathbandan). “Their single-point agenda is Modi. Do this to Modi, that to Modi... Take any 10 pages of a newspaper, 10 leaders of (this) alliance in different voices abuse Modi.”He said, “I leave it to the people to decide whether they are satisfied or not with my work” and emphasised his “outsider” credentials in Lutyens’ Delhi. “I could neither make the Lutyens’ world a part of me... I am a representative of the non-elite world... There is honesty in my work, I work for the people.”The PM also addressed BJP’s lack of success in recent polls to five state assemblies, remarking that while Chhattisgarh was a loss, Madhya Pradesh and Rajasthan had hung houses. “Secondly, 15 years of anti-incumbency was being fought by our people. We are discussing what was lacking,” he said. He said BJP had done well in local elections in several states like Haryana and Jammu & Kashmir.He attacked Congress as a party that promoted casteism, dynastic politics and nepotism. On being asked about several high-profile accused still walking freely despite his promise of a crackdown on corruption, the PM said, “They are on bail... it is a fact that those considered the first family, who ran the country for four generations, are out on bail, that too for financial irregularities... A set of people, who are at their service, are trying to suppress such information and push other narratives.”On Congress leader Rahul Gandhi’s description of GST as “Gabbar Singh Tax”, he said “Jiski jaisi soch, waise uske shabd (The way a person speaks reflects his thinking)... Is he abusing his own governments (as Congress governments are part of the GST council)?”In the course of the extensive interview, Modi sought to beat back opposition attacks that the country was slipping and the government had under-performed. He pointed to gains like electrification of villages, launch of Ayushman Bharat, a UN award for climate change redressal and gains in the field of sports and Isro’s feat in placing 100 satellites in orbit.On criticism that demonetisation was a shock to the system, Modi said it was first necessary to consider whether the measure was needed. He said the rate of growth of cash as a ratio of GDP has slowed and there is awareness against black money and the need for transparency. He pointed out that GST had sharply reduced incidence of taxation and the need to pay cascading taxes that went as high as 30-40%.On the note ban, he said: “This wasn’t a jhatka. We had warned people a year in advance that we have a scheme wherein if you have such wealth, you can deposit it... I beseeched people to take advantage of this scheme... This process took one year... This was necessary for the economic health of the country.”He admitted that demonetisation slowed growth, saying this was the result of a change in process. “In the railways, if a bogey changes track, there is a change in speed... Even when Manmohan Singh was FM and reforms were introduced, GDP fell... to approximately less than 2%,” he said.Apart from strongly defending the benefits of GST, even as he said the government is constantly working to improve its functioning, the PM delved at some length over the advantage stable growth holds out to the middle class. Asked if this section is feeling disappointed, he said, “The middle class never lives at someone’s mercy. It is our responsibility to think about the middle class, not only that they vote for us, but in the interest of the country.”He said the government’s success in controlling inflation, cheaper air travel through Udaan, the 15 crore loans disbursed under Mudra and a big expansion in healthcare as Ayushman Bharat strikes roots, savings of Rs 5-6 lakh on home loans up to Rs 20 lakh and steps to promote a startup culture were measures that benefit the middle classes.He repeated his recent criticism of Congress’s loan waiver offers as “lollipops” and said a very small section of farmers are benefited and those who are dying are not in the purview of such schemes.On cow vigilantism and lynchings, the PM said, “No such incident reflects well on a civilised society. This is totally wrong and condemnable.” He went on ask whether the incidents began in 2014 but said there is nothing to be gained by blame apportioning and said, “India should take pride that we have been living in harmony... we should understand what is the main fabric of our society.”