Lucknow: The BJP has hasn’t forgotten the Ayodhya temple or Hindutva, party chief Rajnath Singh insisted on Saturday.
Singh told cheering workers at the party’s National Council meeting that the BJP was “fully committed” to building the Ram temple in Ayodhya.
Singh said the party could not build the temple when it led the NDA Government, as "we were not in power on our own but were running a coalition which was bound by a common minimum programme".
"All throughout we have been wanting a resolution of the imbroglio through mutual dialogue and by a decree of court. We also wanted to have a legislation for building the temple if the earlier two methods did not yield results, but could not do so as we did not command a majority," he was quoted by PTI as saying.
He challenged the Congress and the Samajwadi Party to implement their "commitment" of rebuilding the Babri Masjid at the disputed site. "If they (Congress and the SP) have the guts, they should rebuild the Masjid", said Singh, who did not speak about the temple at the BJP’s National Executive on Friday.
Accusing the Congress of "Muslim appeasement", he said by 2016 his party would get rid of such politics.
The Centre was adopting a "soft" policy on terrorism and was delaying the execution of Parliament attack convict Afzal Guru.
Advocating tougher laws to deal with terrorism, Singh also referred to the reservation for Muslims in institutions like the Aligarh Muslim University ignoring the SCs, STs and OBCs, and alleged that the Centre was "usurping" their legitimate rights.
Referring to the Prime Minister's remarks made during the National Development Council that Muslims should get priority over country's resources, Singh alleged that the Muslims had been granted the status of first-grade citizens.
"Are Hindus and others second and third-grade citizens," he asked.
Singh also demanded amendment in the Constitution paving the way for inclusion of singing of Vande Mataram in the Fundamental Duties listed in the Constitution.
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