NEW DELHI: BJP and RSS affiliate organisations are not optimistic about the success of mediation the Supreme Court has suggested for resolving the Ayodhya issue.However, there is a perception in BJP that the eight weeks set aside for mediation will help it keep the issue alive during the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections.Senior BJP leaders, including NDA ministers, are not likely to speak on the Supreme Court verdict but lower level party functionaries will be fielded from time to time to create a flutter in the coming days, a BJP insider said.Some leaders ET talked to cited previous instances of mediation attempts coming to a nought.Chandra Shekhar as PM had informally formed a committee in 1990, with Sharad Pawar and Bhairon Singh Shekhawat as members, to talk to all parties but his government did not last.Narasimha Rao too made an effort through seers of Kanchi, Dwarka and Puri, when he was PM, without success. Both the efforts were before the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992.The differences have been much wider since then and mediation by a Supreme Court panel with an eight-week deadline is unlikely to solve an issue pending in courts for decades, the BJP feels.Two suggestions from the courts, post demolition, bore no fruit either.In August, 2010, the Allahabad high court had asked lawyers from both sides whether they would like to explore the option of finding a way out. It was rejected by lawyers of the disputed parties. In March, 2017, Chief Justice of India JS Kehar asked the parties concerned to “give a bit, take a bit”. He described the matter as one of sentiments and religion and suggested it should be solved through mediation.However, many within BJP feel that keeping the temple issue simmering would suit the party and is the second-best scenario, the first being starting construction on the land adjacent to the disputed site. VHP and other saffron outfits are expected to make noises to keep the issue in circulation in the media and among voters. BJP and affiliates are also likely to create a perception that the issue is nearing solution and another term to a BJP-led government would complete the unfinished agenda. Some BJP supporters have, however, raised doubts about the party’s seriousness in solving the issue.The temple will be part of the BJP campaign in north India. It will also be included in the BJP manifesto, a practice the party has followed since 1989. BJP feedback suggests the issue has resonance in rural areas of the Hindi belt. In an election where BJP faces an almost united opposition and anti-incumbency, it will not let go anything that can help it even only if a wee bit.