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BJP ally JD(U) won’t back ordinance on Ayodhya
The LJP’s advice came close on the heels of results of the assembly polls in Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, in which the saffron party was ousted from power.
In the midst of the growing clamour for early construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya, BJP’s ally JD (U) on Friday made it clear it would not support Centre’s effort to settle the issue through the ordinance route.
“Various demands keep on being aired in the country. The demand for promulgating an ordinance for facilitating the construction of Ram Mandir is one. But we don’t favour any other route for the settlement of the matter (resolution by court or through mutual consent) and will not support the move to pass an ordinance,” said JD (U) national general secretary RCP Singh.
The assertion assumes significance as it comes a day after LJP chief Ramvilas Paswan, another NDA ally, advised the BJP to exercise restraint on the Ram temple issue.
The LJP’s advice came close on the heels of results of the assembly polls in Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh, in which the saffron party was ousted from power.
Incidentally, Upendra Kushwaha-led RLSP had also walked out of the NDA fold ahead of election results.
The JD (U) general secretary said that party stand on the issue had been consistent since it joined the NDA in 1996. “It has remained that way in the past; it is the same now and will remain so in the future. We have maintained that nothing else than settlement by court or mutual consent is acceptable,” he said in response to a query regarding the ‘impatience’ aired by certain quarters over the delay.
Asked whether the assembly election results were a warning bell for the alliance, Singh said the JD (U) was strong in Bihar. “And though it failed to make its presence felt in two states (Chhattisgarh and Rajasthan), victory and defeat were inseparable part of electoral politics. While it turned out to be direct fight between two national parties in three states, regional parties have held their fort in Telangna and Mizoram. JD (U) is confident of doing the same in the state,” he said.
Singh, accompanied by minister Rajiv Ranjan Singh alias Lallan Singh, also inducted Vijay Kumar Singh back into the party fold along with Pramod Kumar Sharma of RLSP saying the return of Singh, a former president Muzaffarpur district unit of JD (U), would strengthen the party in the area.
