india

Updated: Feb 06, 2020 12:22 IST

A day after Prime Minister Narendra Modi announced the formation of a trust for the Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Shiv Sena took a swipe at the Bharatiya Janata Party over the timing of the announcement in Parliament.

In an editorial of party mouthpiece Saamana, Sena said that BJP had resorted to this move just days ahead of the polling for the Delhi Assembly polls as Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal was causing a lot of problems. It also added that the real credit must go to the Supreme Court.

“There is criticism that the BJP had to bring in Lord Ram as Kejriwal had caused it tremendous problems in the Delhi elections. Because Prime Minister Narendra Modi has announced the formation of the Ram Temple trust 4 days before the voting. The Supreme Court has to be congratulated for the trust that the PM announced for the construction of the Ram temple. PM Modi needs to be congratulated for fulfilling his duty of implementing the verdict of the SC,” the Sena said in the editorial on Thursday.

Reacting to the decision to set up the Teerth Kshetra Trust for construction of a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the Sena on Wednesday gave a backhanded compliment to Prime Minister Modi for implementing the Supreme Court (SC) order. Sena MP Sanjay Raut also said that the fight to build a Ram temple was not of any one political party.

The Sena in the editorial remarked that if “two-four seats would increase with the help of Lord Ram, it is welcome”. The Uddhav Thackeray-led party also slammed the BJP for using Ram Mandir issues as a political tool.

“We thought that Ram Mandir will not be used for politics but the temple’s ‘foundation’ was laid for Delhi Assembly elections. Again it will be used in the 2024 Lok Sabha polls. Till then we hope ‘Ram Rajya’ will come in true sense,” it said.

The Congress party and the All India Majlis-e-Ittehad-ul-Muslimeen (AIMIM) also raised questions over the announcement of the Ram temple trust.