Uttar Pradesh minister axed after call to Muslims on temple

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Akhilesh Yadav has stripped Samajwadi Party leader Ompal Nehra of Minister of State status after his remarks asking Muslims to help build temples in Ayodhya and Mathura. “Nehra has been sacked by the Chief Minister yesterday,” SP spokesman and cabinet minister Rajendra Chowdhury said.

The action by Chief Minister, who is also the state president of ruling Samajwadi Party, came as the Ram temple issue came into renewed focus with two truckloads of stones for construction of the temple being brought to Ayodhya by Vishva Hindu Parishad. Nehra had on Dec 23 suggested during a function that Muslims should come forward and help build temples at disputed sites in Ayodhya and Mathura, so that organisations like VHP lose their identity. 

“Where can a Ram temple be built if not in Ayodhya? It is an emotional issue. In Mathura, where we worship Krishna, how can there be a mosque there. Muslims should think about it and in fact come forward for Kar Seva (voluntary work) and say build the temples at these places. We should not fall in their (VHP’s)trap,” Nehra had said in Bijnore.  

Meanwhile, terming construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya as a “national work”, Shiv Sena today said those who have come to power with Lord Ram’s blessings should end his exile and demanded that a date be declared for starting the temple construction. “Building Lord Ram’s temple is a national work,” an editorial in Sena mouthpiece Saamana said.

“We want a Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. But our Lord Ram, like an outcast, has to live in a tent-like mandir. Those in power should be ashamed of this situation of Lord Ram’s temple. Those who have come to power and are holding important posts, should ensure that Ram’s exile period ends,” the ruling alliance partner said. 

The Sena also said that the issue is consistently raked up prior to the Assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh, and stones for the construction of the temple start arriving at the site. The next UP Assembly polls will be held in 2017.