RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP president Amit Shah along with other BJP and VHP leaders at the function to pay homage to VHP patron Ashok Singhal in New Delhi on Sunday. (Express Photo by: Oinam Anand) RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and BJP president Amit Shah along with other BJP and VHP leaders at the function to pay homage to VHP patron Ashok Singhal in New Delhi on Sunday. (Express Photo by: Oinam Anand)

At condolence meet for VHP patron Ashok Singhal Sunday, the RSS pushed for construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said “serious attempts” should be made to accomplish Singhal’s dream as he recalled his last meeting with him earlier this month.

Bhagwat said Singhal had two desires — construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya and propagation of Vedas.

“If we have to accomplish the resolve of Ashokji, we have to take a pledge today to make his resolve ours. We have to make serious attempts to build the Ram Temple and that will be a true tribute to him. Ashokji’s spirit will guide us in this task” he said, adding that “in the coming few years we hope to work towards accomplishing his dream of Ram Temple.”

During Singhal’s birthday celebrations last month, VHP had pushed for the construction of Ram temple in the presence of Union Home Minister Rajnath Singh as well as the RSS chief.

While last month Rajnath Singh had listed the ‘Ram Janmabhoomi’ movement among the two biggest movements of independent India, BJP chief Amit Shah Sunday called it the “biggest movement after Independence” whose “hero and architect” was Singhal.

Apart from Shah and Bhagwat, a host of senior Union ministers gathered to pay tributes to Singhal, including Ravi Shankar Prasad, Dr Harsh Vardhan, Venkaiah Naidu and Sadhvi Niranjan Jyoti, besides the top brass of the RSS.

At the event, former Union Minister Murli Manohar Joshi said: “Ram is Bharat. Bharat is Ram. Ashokji’s dream is incomplete without the construction of the Ram Temple,” he said.

“It is considered divisive these days to talk about the Ram Temple. We can confidently say that Bharat was a Vishwaguru and will be one…To call it divisive is against our country’s tradition,” he said.

VHP has often demanded a law for ensuring the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya.

VHP leader Pravin Togadia repeated the demand and said: “The Central government should pass an Act in Parliament to construct a Ram Temple in Ayodhya. It will be a fitting tribute to Ashok Singhal,” he said. Togadia said that “we will not mourn the death of Ashokji, instead take a resolve of celebrating it as Hindu victory.”

Former VHP president Vishnu Hari Dalmia also said that construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya will be a true tribute to Singhal, who dedicated his entire life for Hindutva and spearheaded the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. He urged Bhagwat to ask the government for early construction of the temple.

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