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Updated: Jan 03, 2019 21:42 IST

Union minister Ram Vilas Paswan, an ally of the Bharatiya Janata Party from Bihar, joined the chorus over women’s entry in Sabarimala temple and said if women could go into space, there was no reason why they couldn’t enter a temple.

Paswan’s defence of women’s entry in the Kerala temple, an issue which has triggered a political row in the southern state, comes a day after BJP leader and Union minister Anantkumar Hegde called the handling of the matter as a ‘daylight rape of Hindu people’.

Police said on Thursday that 266 people were arrested in connection with the protests by right-wing groups after two women of menstruating age entered the Sabarimala temple early Wednesday.

“The Supreme Court has delivered its judgment and now two women have even entered the temple. Is the government stopping them from entering the temple?” said Paswan, who heads the Lok Janshakti Party. “There should be no discrimination in the name of gender. Women are going to space, then why can’t they enter a temple.’

Watch: Two women below the age of 50 enter Sabarimala Temple

The LJP is against any gender discrimination, he said, adding that the BJP may have protested against the implementation of the court’s order but the Union government has not interfered in the matter. “Political parties have different views on issues,” he said.

The minister also said that all doubts about the Ram temple ordinance should end after Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s recent statement and the Supreme Court’s judgment in the matter should be accepted by everyone.

Modi told news agency ANI in an interview on Tuesday that any decision on bringing an ordinance on Ram temple can be considered only after the judicial process gets over. The Ram temple title case is in the apex court.

“Whatever judgment the Supreme Court gives on the Ram temple issue should be accepted by everyone, be it Hindu, Muslim or any other community. Our stand has been consistent. All ifs and buts should end when the PM said that we will wait for the Supreme Court judgment,” he said.

Paswan said he has already declared that he will not support the ordinance, and his stand on the issue has been consistent. The LJP is the second major ally of the BJP to oppose an ordinance.

Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar had recently said that the contentious issue should be resolved either through a court judgment or mutual agreement among different groups.