Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath on Tuesday welcomed the Centre’s move to seek Supreme Court’s permission to return 67-acre of acquired land around the disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site to its original owners.
“We welcome the initiative of the Union government. We should get permission to start work on the undisputed land at the earliest,” Yogi said, welcoming the Central government’s initiative on Tuesday morning.
Replying to media questions, state government spokesperson Sidharth Nath Singh said the Centre was working on all aspects within the ambit of Constitution to fulfil the long-pending aspirations of the people who wanted a grand temple of Lord Ram at Ayodhya.
Accusing the Congress of trying to delay the resolution of the issue beyond the coming 2019 general elections, Singh said the entire country wanted a Ram temple to be built at the earliest as it was a matter of faith.
Ruling out any pressure from the Dharma Sansad or the coming Lok Sabha polls, Singh said that legal procedure was being followed as the hearing on temple issue was set to start soon in the Supreme Court.
Asked if temple construction could start before the polls as Swami Swaroopanand Saraswati had given a call to proceed to Ayodhya soon after the Dharma Sansad in Kumbh, Singh said, “I can merely say that the government wants the temple to be built at the earliest as the issue is connected with people.”
Interestingly, Singh added that the government was of the same view as the people on the issue.
The Centre moved the Supreme Court on Tuesday seeking permission to return the 67-acre acquired land around disputed Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid site to the original owners. In a fresh plea, the Centre said that it had acquired 67 acre of land around the 2.77 acre of disputed site. The plea said that Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas (a trust to promote the construction of Ram temple) had sought return of the excess land acquired in 1991 to its original owners.