Tough UP battle makes BJP relook at Ram Janmabhoomi

With the battle for Uttar Pradesh looking too close to call and a Samajwadi Party (SP) and Congress pre-poll alliance a possibility, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is looking at bringing back the Ram Janmabhoomi issue.

An SP-Congress alliance is likely to consolidate the Muslim vote in their favour. However, this would also give the BJP space for working towards a counter-polarisation of a consolidated Hindu vote.

The Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid case is pending in the Supreme Court. While the case is unlikely to be heard day to day as yet, as has been demanded by BJP Rajya Sabha member Subramanian Swamy, the 'Sangh Parivar' is already making efforts to bring the issue back in the public discourse. The BJP national executive meet in Delhi, scheduled for Friday and Saturday, will have speeches by leaders that might mention the Ayodhya issue, sources said.

In end-December, the Parivar marked with some fanfare the 67th anniversary of the controversial appearance of an idol in the Babri Masjid premises. Union water resources minister Uma Bharti reached Ayodhya on December 25 and visited the makeshift temple at the disputed site. The Vishva Hindu Parishad, a Parivar affiliate, also organised events to mark the anniversary and its leading lights said they wanted an out-of-court settlement.

The petitions on the case are currently before the apex court bench of judges Arun Mishra and Amitava Roy. A source in the lawyers' cell associated with the Parivar said a battery of lawyers are prepared once the case comes for listing at the end of this month. The BJP hopes to create a buzz around the issue at the time

The party is also preparing to criticise state Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav for going against India's 'civilisational ethos' by leading a coup against his father, Mulayam Singh Yadav. "In our society, the father has the right to write a will, not the son...It amounts to removal of an authorised president by an unauthorised chief," BJP general secretary Bhupender Yadav said on Wednesday regarding Mulayam's ouster as SP president in favour of Akhilesh.

A BJP leader said the party had taken heart from the fact that its 'parivartan yatra' that travelled 17,000 km across UP didn't face any protests on account of the Narendra Modi government's note ban decision.