The issue of Ram temple might not have provided enough mileage for the BJP leader to ascend to the prime minister’s throne, but LK Advani seems to be in no mood to shed the party’s much utilised war cry.
The Leader of Opposition was at Somnath temple (in Junagadh district of Gujarat) on Thursday to commemorate the 20th anniversary of the launch of his historic rath yatra that catapulted the saffron party to power a few years later.
“Today, I have come to Somnath to offer my prayers on the 20th anniversary of my rath yatra. Ram temple should be and will be built at Ayodhya,” Advani said (PTI quoted) after offering prayers.
Nineteen years ago — on September 25, 1990 — Advani started his Ayodhya rath yatra from Somnath. The yatra though disrupted (by his arrest in Bihar), helped the party garner majority Hindu votes in subsequent elections.
“I visit Somnath every year this day and will continue to do so till Ram temple comes up at Ayodhya,” Advani, accompanied by his daughter Pratibha, said during the visit.
During the April-May Lok Sabha elections this year, Advani stated that the slogan of Jai Shri Ram would be fruitful only when a Ram temple is built (on Ram Janmabhoomi — the disputed land where Babri Masjid once stood) in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}During the April-May Lok Sabha elections this year, Advani stated that the slogan of Jai Shri Ram would be fruitful only when a Ram temple is built (on Ram Janmabhoomi — the disputed land where Babri Masjid once stood) in Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh.
{{/usCountry}}Meanwhile, former BJP ideologue K.N. Govindacharya said Advani’s retirement is overdue. “He (Advani) should have stepped down in 2004 itself (following the party debacle) but dragged himself for five more years and now has brought himself to this situation where he has to take all this criticism (from within and outside the party),” Govindacharya told HT.
(With agency inputs)