VHP says no agitational plans for raising Ram Temple issue for 4 months

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad said on Wednesday that it decided on not holding any agitational programme on the issue of Ram temple at Ayodhya for the next four months on the advice of Hindu religious leaders and also because it did not want the issue to be linked to elections. "The elections are there. And in elections, even the holiest of the objects get muddied. We don't want it to be reduced to an electoral issue. Therefore, the 'sants' have told us that they don't want to continue any agitation or programme for four months," VHP international working president Alok Kumar said.

When told that the issue has been impacting elections, he said VHP does not treat it as an electoral issue. "The issue might be affecting the electoral process but we don't treat it as an issue to win or lose elections," he said.

Asked about the future course of action, he said that the religious leaders will decide the future course of elections after four months. On the impact of decision, Kumar said he did not think that the decision will send any wrong message among the Hindu community.

"The Hindu community would not like the Ramjanmabhoomi issue to be reduced to an issue of election," he said. The VHP said on Tuesday that it will not hold any agitation on the issue of building Ram temple at Ayodhya for the next four months till the Lok Sabha elections are over.

(With inputs from agencies.)