Shiv Sena lashes out at Modi, says lack of political will delaying Ram Temple
Mumbai, Nov 26 : The Shiv Sena Monday charged that "lack of political will" was delaying construction of the Ram Temple in Ayodhya and said Prime Minister Narendra Modi should stop doing "political nautanki" (drama) over the issue while keeping a gun on shoulders of the Congress.
Taking potshots at Modi for his "56-inch chest" remark made during the 2014 Lok Sabha polls, it said the Congress did not have the courage to build the Ram Temple, so it was thrown out of power, and a man with a "56-inch chest" was given the keys to the administration.
"Yet, if you see the Congress in water, on land and in air, people will once again have to measure your chest size. If Ram continues to stay in 'vanvaas' (exile) then stop your political 'nautanki'," the Sena said in an editorial in party mouthpiece 'Saamana'.
During the 2014 Lok Sabha poll campaign, Modi had said that a "56-inch chest" was needed to tackle Pakistan.
On the prime minister's charge that the Congress was creating hurdles in the court's process, the Sena said, "Modi has to stop levelling allegations against the Gandhi family and the Congress. You were not given power to keep cribbing about such problems. The Congress and the Samajwadi Party were ousted because of their hurdles in the construction of Ram Temple. So, stop blaming the Congress now".
"Did demonetisation not happen despite opposition from the Congress? Did you not form government in Jammu and Kashmir with (People's Democratic Party chief) Mehbooba Mufti despite hurdles from the Congress? Then what is the hurdle in (construction of) Ram temple?" it asked.
Contrary to the BJP's claims, it is not the Congress, but a "lack of political will" that is the biggest hurdle in the temple's construction, claimed the Sena, which is an ally of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) at the Centre and in Maharashtra.
"What is (Congress chief) Rahul Gandhi's importance? What strength does the Congress have? Then why give it so much importance? If you play politics on temple while keeping the gun on the Congress' shoulders, you will disappear. Ram temple was not Congress', but BJP's promise," it said.
It also said that Shiv Sena chief Uddhav Thackeray's visit to Ayodhya has fulfilled one objective - those who were sleeping over the issue did not turn but at least have opened their eyes and understood that 'jumlebaazi' (rhetoric) will not work as far as the Ram Temple is concerned.
Thackeray had offered prayers at the Ram Lalla Temple in Ayodhya on Sunday and said the BJP government at the Centre "may not last" if the temple was not constructed.
He had demanded that an ordinance be brought in to pave way for the temple's construction, warning that emotions of Hindus should not be taken for granted.
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Two injuries, one DNF, a DQ as India end messy World Relays campaign
Gaborone (Botswana) (PTI): Amoj Jacob and Ragul Kumar got injured during the men's 4x400m and 4x100 races respectively as India ended their World Athletics Relays campaign in disappointment on the second day of competitions here on Sunday.
The Indian camp had high hopes of making the 2027 World Championships in the men's 4x400m relay but the team did not finish (DNF) the race as Jacob suffered cramps and pulled out of the race after taking the baton from the first leg runner Dharamveer Choudhary. Rajesh Ramesh and Vishal TK were to run in the third and fourth legs.
Those teams which could not qualify for the 2027 Beijing World Championships by reaching the final round of each of the six relay events on Saturday were given another chance in the second qualification round on Sunday.
The top two teams in each of the two heats (in all six relay events) booked the Beijing ticket on Sunday.
India will now have to try and qualify for the World Championships through the Top Lists of the World Athletics, which is a long and tedious process.
In the men's 4x100m race, third leg runner Ragul Kumar fell down the track after failing to hand over the baton inside the exchange zone to fourth leg runner Gurindervir Singh, which clearly showed the lack of coordination among the runners.
Harsh Santosh Raut and Animesh Kujur ran the first two legs.
The Indian quartet was disqualified and Kumar was seen being taken away from the Field of Play with the help of the volunteers.
It was a comedy of errors in the case of the women's 4x100m race, which saw the baton being dropped during an exchange between first leg runner Tamanna and second runner Nithya Gandhe, though the Indians finished the race in 53.09 seconds.
Gandhe started running quite a distance, but after realising that the baton was not in her hand, she turned and ran back to pick it up.
The only silver-lining for the Indian contingent was the national record time in the mixed 4x100m relay race, though the quartet of Ragul Kumar, Nithya Gandhe, Animesh Kujur and Sneha SS finished sixth in heat number two with a time of 41.35 seconds, bettering the previous national mark of 42.30 seconds set in March in Chandigarh.
The mixed 4x400m relay quartet of Theerthesh P Shetty, Kumari Saloni, Nihal William and Rashdeep Kaur ended at fifth in heat number one with a time of 3 minutes and 19.40 seconds.
On Saturday, all the five Indian relay teams had failed to make it to the respective final rounds and thus missed out on the 2027 World Championships berths.
