BJP has cheated Ram, winning 2019 elections will be difficult: Ayodhya priest

If the party wants to win in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it should start the construction of Ram Temple, said the chief priest of Ram Janmabhoomi temple,

Ram Janmabhoomi temple chief priest Acharya S Das has accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of cheating lord Ram. Speaking to news agency ANI, the Ayodhya priest said that the BJP came to power by using the name of lord Ram and then forgot him completely.

“If the party wants to win in 2019 Lok Sabha elections, it should start the construction of Ram Temple, else it will be difficult for them,” said Acharya S Das.

The remark by the Ram Janmabhoomi chief priest came hours after Chawani temple priest Mahant Paramhans Das threatened to start a movement against the BJP if construction of Ram temple did not start on immediate basis.

"If they (BJP) want to come in power again (in 2019) then they have to build the Ram Temple, else we will start a movement and make sure they are defeated," he had said.

Mahant Paramhans Das hit out at the ruling BJP in reaction to Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi saying that Hindutva and Ram Mandir were not the primary issues for the party for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections. Naqvi had said that the BJP would contest the General Elections on the issue of development.

The Hindu Yuva Vahini, a youth wing formed by Yogi Adityanath long before he became the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh, also reportedly threatened to cut off ties with the BJP if building the Ram Mandir ceases to be one of the primary issues.

The final hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute is pending before the Supreme Court at present. The top court is hearing as many as 13 appeals filed against the 2010 judgement of the Allahabad High Court in four civil suits. The petitions challenge the high court verdict that mandated a three-way division of the disputed site in Ayodhya.