MUMBAI: A day after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and Shiv Sena president Uddhav Thackeray spoke about the Ram mandir, former Mumbai Congress president Kripashankar Singh unexpectedly jumped into the row over construction of the temple in Ayodhya . “I have carefully read the statements of Bhagwat and Thackeray, and in my opinion, neither RSS nor a political party has the political will to construct the temple. I think devotees should take the lead for construction of the Ram temple,” Singh told TOI .

Singh, who originally belongs to Jaunpur in Uttar Pradesh, told a well-attended Ram Leela rally at Azad Maidan on Thursday that devotees of Lord Ram should write to both Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath that in the larger public interest and also keeping in mind religious sentiments of people, the temple should be constructed as top priority. “Devotees of Lord Ram should take the lead, build up a movement and initiate immediate steps for construction of the temple,” Singh said.

“With elections around the corner, political parties are discussing construction of the Ram temple. I think the Ram temple trust should take the lead and ensure that the temple is constructed in a time-bound manner without involving any political party. Of course, parties are welcome to supplement the efforts of the trust and devotees,” he said.

The views expressed by Singh assume political importance since he is the first Congress leader to comment openly on the temple issue after the statements of Bhagwat and Thackeray. There is speculation that he may join the BJP before the 2019 Lok Sabha elections.

At the Dussehra rally of the RSS in Nagpur, Bhagwat had asked the government to bring in a law for temple construction. Uddhav Thackeray too said the Sena would gear itself up to build the temple if the Modi-led government failed to do it.

