BJP not to make Ram temple an issue in UP polls: Kalraj Mishra

BJP would not make the Ram temple an election issue in Uttar Pradesh though it is on the agenda of the party, Union Minister Kalraj Mishra said on Monday. 

"The construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya is our national issue but BJP will not make it an issue in the Uttar Pradesh elections," he told reporters here. The Union MSME minister was in the city to highlight the initiatives and achievements of the Modi government on its two years of completion.

He said the party will contest election and emerge victorious on the agenda of growth and development. "During the UPA rule, the image of the government in the world was that of a scam-tainted government but since Modi became Prime Minister, the image has positively changed," the minister said.

He also condemned the violence at Jawahar Bagh in Mathura and called it a "shameful" incident. "It is the failure of Akhilesh Yadav government in UP where anarchism rules," Kalraj said.