Zee Media Bureau
Lucknow: With Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Uttar Pradesh government locking horns over the ‘Chaurasai Kosi Parikrama’, the Ram Janmabhoomi issue is once again in focus in the communally sensitive state.
While VHP vowed to set to kick off its Chaurasai Kosi Parikrama around Ayodhya to revive its demand for a Ram temple, the Samajwadi Party government responded by banning the proposed yatra.
The Akhilesh Yadav government has put in place elaborate security arrangements by rushing in 10 companies of the Rapid Action Force (RSF) and 12 companies of the Provincial Armed Constabulary (PAC).
Meanwhile, a war of words has begun between the Samajwadi Party and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). SP leader Rajendra Choudhury today said that his party won’t let Uttar Pradesh become another Gujarat. Reacting to this, BJP leader Laxmikant Bajpai replied that the ruling party is suffering from ‘Gujarat phobia’.
Congress general secretary Digvijaya Singh said that VHP wants to spread communal tension and gain politically from it.
Uttar Pradesh Public Works Department Minister Azam Khan had also added to the controversy when he opined that the meeting between VHP leader Ashok Singhal and his party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav would send a wrong message to the minority community.
Azam said that he was hopeful that SP and his leader would not compromise with the image due to which he (Mulayam) and his colleagues reached to this place after long struggle.
The Urban Development Minister’s statement came after a delegation of Hindu saints led by VHP international president Ashok Singhal met Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Saturday and asked him to convince Muslim leaders, clerics and ulemas to pave way for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. UP Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav was also present at the meeting which lasted for over 90 minutes at the CM’s official residence.
After the meeting, the seers had claimed that Mulayam had accepted their request. The saints also said that they had asked Akhilesh to provide adequate support and security for the “84 kosi parikrama” (a religious march) in Ayodhya and adjoining districts beginning August 25.
