New Delhi: Not getting the kind of public support it had expected on issues like corruption and law and order, BJP is all set to revive the Hindutva and Ram temple agenda in poll-bound Uttar Pradesh with the party planning to wrap up its Jan Swabhiman Yatra at Ayodhya on November 17.
In a bid to enthuse the party cadre and reach out to the electorate of UP, BJP had launched the Jan Swabhiman Yatra from Varanasi and Mathura simultaneously on October 13. Both these cities have been on BJP`s Hindutva map after Ayodhya due to the Gyanvapi-Kashi Vishwanath temple issue at Varanasi and the Keshav Dev temple-Shahi Idgah issue at Mathura. Asked if the party was trying to revive the temple issue and Hindutva, BJP Vice-President Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said, "We began this yatra from Mathura and Kashi (Varanasi). Ayodhya is an important cultural centre not only for Uttar Pradesh but the whole country. The yatra is aimed at ending Ravan rule (oppressive regime) and ushering in Ram rajya (good governance)."
BJP President Nitin Gadkari will be present at the culmination of the yatra on November 17 at Ayodhya. The party will take a Vijay Sankalp (victory pledge) at a rally at Ayodhya. Elections in UP are scheduled to be held in April next year. It appears that BJP has fallen back on the Hindutva and temple agenda after other issues failed to arouse the kind of public sentiments the party had expected. The party will continue to target the BSP government as well as SP and Congress on issues like corruption and good governance but is likely to play the Hindutva card more vociferously.
PTI