'Ram' looks set to occupy centrestage in UP polls

Lord Ram looked set to occupy political centrestage in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh despite BJP's claim of a temple to the deity not being on its agenda, with Union Minister Mahesh Sharma today saying those who get to do "Ram Ka Kaam" (serve Ram) were fortunate.
"If anyone gets a chance to work for Bhagwan Ram he is most fortunate...It will be good fortune if Bhagwan Ram gives us a chance to do 'Ram ka kaam' and this responsibility has been given to Prime Minister Narendra Modi by the people of the country," Sharma said during his visit to Aodhya to inspect the proposed site for setting up a Ramayana musuem.

The proposed museum, to be built on a 25 acre plot given by the Uttar Pradesh government nearly 15 km from the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid complex, has reignited demands by BJP hardliners like Vinay Katiyar for building a Ram temple at the site where the Babri mosque stood before being pulled down in 1992.
Katiyar, who had yesterday demanded that a bill be brought in the Lok Sabha for creation of Ram temple, today said no positive efforts were being made for construction of the temple and only "lollipop" was being offered to the devotees of the deity.
"A race is on...Somebody is building a museum, somebody else (the Akhilesh Yadav government) a Ramleela Theme Park. We welcome development of Ayodhya, but everything is useless without construction of Ram temple. We cannot compromise on that.

"No positive steps are being taken for building Ram temple, which is the core job that needs to be done. The Samajwadi Party government shot dead the Kar Sevaks and now it is offering lollipop in the form of a theme park," Katiyar, a BJP member of the Rajya Sabha who once represented Faizabad, the district where Ayodhya is located, in Parliament, said.

"Mann ban chuka hai, mahaul ban chuka hai (we have made up our mind, a conducive atmosphere has also been created). The beginning has been made and we have got the directives from Ram Lala," Sharma said, adding, "We are the Lord's children and so have to do his work of spreading education".

Insisting that Ram temple was not on the Modi government's agenda, Sharma said Ayodhya's development will get a big push from the Rs 151 crore allotted for developing the proposed museum, which will present the life of the deity as portrayed in sage Valmiki's epic.
He said there was no politics behind the proposed museum being constructed as part of the Ramayana Circuit. Similarly Krishna Circuit and Buddhist Circuit were also being developed, Sharma said.
He said Ram temple was an "issue of faith" for millions of people, but it was not on BJP's electoral agenda.
The Minister said the government would try to have the museum inaugurated before Uttar Pradesh votes to elect a new government.

The Modi government, however, came under attack from the Congress over the issue with party general secretary Digvijay Singh alleging the museum and Ram temple were being raked up with an eye on the assembly election in Uttar Pradesh due early next year.
Singh said Modi's chant of "Jai Shri Ram, Jai Jai Shri
Ram" at a Dussehra event in Lucknow was "obviously" intended to polarise Hindu votes in favour of the BJP.
However, another Union Minister Sanjeev Balyan claimed there was "no attempt at polarisation" by constructing a Ramayana museum in Ayodhya.
"Lord Ram is not an issue linked with polls. Mahesh Sharma has been trying for Ramayana museum for the last year- and-a-half. If not a Ram musuem, will a Babur (Mughal emperor) museum come up there," Balyan, an accused in the 2013 Muzaffarnagar riots case, said.

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Two major Left parties--CPI-M and CPI--criticised the Modi government's decision of setting up the Ramayana museum and accused BJP of seeking to "again exploit" the public sentiment for electoral gains and termed it an attempt to distract people's attention from the party's "failure" in delivering on poll promises.
"The BJP has continuously exploited people's sentiment about Lord Ram for electoral purposes. That's exactly what they are doing once again.
"So, that's the desperation they fall back upon. They have not been able to deliver on a single promise made during the last Lok Sabha elections," CPI(M) general secretary Sitaram Yechury said.

Terming the move as an attempt to distract public attention from BJP's "failure" to keep poll promises, Yechury said people will not fall for the "games" the saffron party is playing this time around.
Echoing his views, senior CPI leader Atul Anjan said the museum has been proposed keeping an eye on the elections in Uttar Pradesh "where BJP is searching for political ground".
"Union Culture Minister Mahesh Sharma had gone to inspect the site in Ayodhya. In fact, he had gone to find political land for BJP and not for the proposed museum. They don't want to construct Ramayana museum, but vote museum," Anjan said.