Pilibit (Part 1):

Indian Prime Minister Narendra Modi today said veteran Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh, who was Uttar Pradesh chief minister when the Babri Masjid was demolished in 1992, “dedicated his life and government to Ayoti Temple of Atiram”.

“Our Kalyan Singh ji dedicated his life and The government has dedicated the Ram temple. Every family in the country has contributed to the Ram temple. But those who are members of the Indian Union have always hated the construction of the Ram temple,” he said.

Who is Kalyan Singh?

Mr Singh, who served as governor of Rajasthan and Himachal Pradesh before his death in 2021, was chief minister when the 16th-century Babri Masjid was demolished by Hindu activists in Ayodhya. He resigned as chief minister hours after the demolition. The PV Narasimha Rao government dissolved the state government on the same day and imposed President’s Rules.

In his second term as chief minister, Mr. Singh’s government withdrew the cases against the Babri case accused.

He left the BJP several times and for a time formed an alliance with the Samajwadi Party led by Mulayam Singh Yadav. In 2014, he returned to the BJP permanently and went on to serve as governor of two states. Singh is one of the top leaders of the BJP, including veteran Lal Krishna Advani, who was imprisoned by the Indian Central Committee in 2020 in the Babri Masjid demolition case. The special court of the Bureau of Investigation acquitted him. The court later said the demolition was “not pre-planned”.

Temple Charge

The Prime Minister accused the Congress of leaving no stone unturned to ensure that the Rama temple is not constructed in Ayodha. “But when people donated every penny they could and built a magnificent temple, the temple authorities forgave you (Congress) and invited you to the consecration ceremony. But you declined the invitation and insulted Lord Ram .The leaders who participated in the ceremony have been expelled for six years,” he said.

The BJP is counting on the Ram temple construction to pay dividends in the Lok Sabha polls, especially in the politically important state of Uttar Pradesh. This time, the party ousted incumbent Pilibhit MP Varun Gandhi, who had attracted attention for his critical remarks about the government, and chose Mr. Prasada, who resigned from the Congress party in 2021.

unity jab statue

Addressing the opposition in the Pilibhit phase, the Prime Minister said the Congress and other India Bloc parties “have no hesitation in insulting the great personalities of the country”. “None of the prominent leaders of the Congress or the Samajwadi Party visited the Statue of Unity. They traveled abroad but did not visit the statue of Sardar (Vallabhbhai Patel),” he said.

The Statue of Unity, a 182-meter statue of the country’s first home minister, was inaugurated by the Prime Minister in 2018 near Kevadia, Gujarat.

The prime minister slammed the Samajwadi Party for joining hands with the Congress and also mentioned the anti-Sikh riots that followed the assassination of Indira Gandhi in 1984. “No one can forget what the Congress did to our Sikh brothers in 1984. The Samajwadi Party now supports the Congress. The BJP stands firmly behind the Sikhs.”