BJP's commitment to Ram temple intact: Rajnath

Raking up the Ram temple issue, BJP chief Rajnath Singh today said his party's commitment to building the temple in Ayodhya "remains intact" and it will be subsequently proven.  

Rubbishing the charges of rivals that the saffron party has dropped the issue of Ram temple for power, he said, "This is simply a false propaganda by those who never wanted the construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya and had even questioned the very existence of Lord Rama.  "And as far as the building of Ram Temple is concerned, our commitment for it remains intact and we will subsequently prove it," he told PTI in an interview.  

On the Kandahar hijacking issue, he said, "The Congress frequently raises the issue of Kandahar hijacking only to save its skin and to mislead the people of this country. In fact, let me tell you that we were at the crossroads of allowing innocent passengers to get killed or saving them."
 
"The decision to release the terrorists was taken at an all party meeting and Congress was a party to the decision," he claimed.  

Describing terrorism and spiralling price rise as the most important election issues, he said the people of this country will give a befitting reply to those who think that the ongoing Lok Sabha elections are "issueless".

"Those who are of the view that the general elections are devoid of any issues, let me tell you that the biggest issues in front of the voters today are rising terrorism and spiralling prices," the BJP chief said.   

He said if these issues were not visible to other political parties, then it is because of their short sightedness. "Once the election results are out, this myth will be shattered." 

"Unemployment is also an important issue today before the voters. If you look at a survey of the Labour Bureau of the Ministry of Labour, then nearly six lakh people in the organised sector lost their jobs from October to December 2008. And if the unorganised sector is also taken into account, then the figure reads almost 1.25 crore," he said, apparently referring to the job losses due to recession.       

Asked about the difference between the 2004 Lok Sabha polls and the elections now, Singh said, "In the last general polls when we were speaking about 'India Shining', the Congress president went on asking the voters about the price of pulses and cereals.  "But this time round when prices have sky-rocketed breaking all barriers, she instead of asking the housewives and sisters about their kitchen is busy proving that Manmohan Singh is a strong Prime Minister," Singh said.       

When pointed out that the issue of a weak prime minister was raked up by the BJP, Singh said, "At a time when the entire country is describing him (Manmohan Singh) as a weak PM, why should anybody mind our saying the same thing.

"On Biju Janta Dal leaving the NDA, the BJP chief said, "If the BJD has left us in Orissa, then the Rashtriya Lok Dal in UP, Indian National Lok Dal in Haryana and Asom Gana Parishad in Assam have entered into electoral understandings with us."       

Calling the Congress-led UPA as a sinking ship, the BJP leader said, its "constituents like the NCP, the LJP and the RJD have already formed third and fourth fronts.  "And it is not we who are saying this, it is proved by the anti-Congress stance taken by some of the UPA constituents themselves."      

Asked whether the anti-BJP parties will regroup with the Congress after the polls, he said, "God willing this situation will never arise."