Karsevakpuram, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s headquarters in Ayodhya, is usually quite deserted. Most times, there's little activity on the campus, where carved pillars meant for the proposed Ram temple are fabricated and stored. No longer. The talk of a Modi wave has infused the place with new energy.
“Karsevakpuram has come alive over the last couple of months,” said Krishna Kumar Singh, the VHP worker who runs a book shop at the Mandir Nirman Karyashala (temple construction workshop). “We all are waiting for Modiji to take oath. The moment that happens, the work in the karyashala will be put on fast track.”
Singh is not alone in his optimism. Everyone at Karsevakpuram seems upbeat about the prospect of Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister of India, and everyone asserts that the first thing the new Bharatiya Janata Party government will do is to pass a bill to ensure the construction of temple at the site where once Babri Masjid stood. The VHP is the more militant associate of the BJP and was at the forefront of the violent campaign in the 1990s that resulted in the demolition of the Muslim shrine.
Karsevakpuram was where Sangh Parivar activists camped during the the Ayodhya agitation. The Mandir Nirman Karyashala started functioning in 1989, and the fabrication work has picked up since 1991.
“Karsevakpuram becomes active at the time of every election,” said Nagendra Upadhyay, the supervisor of the Mandir Nirman Karyashala. "But this time the situation is completely different and the level of enthusiasm is unusually high because it seems that the construction of temple is round the corner."
But why is he so confident? Hasn’t Modi completely avoided any mention of the Ram temple during the campaign?
“That is tactical,” Upadhyay said. “Every party will pounce on him the moment he says this. We understand why he is silent on this issue. See what Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said only two days back.”
On Saturday, BJP leader Naqvi said at Bokaro in Bihar that the BJP wanted the temple to be built. “We want a Ram mandir to be built and will find ways to solve the issue within the constitutional framework after forming the government,” he said.
Simultaneously, preparations are underway for a massive Putresh Yajna that will take place soon after Modi comes to power. “Finishing touch is being given to the statues of King Dasarath, his three wives and their four sons,” said VHP leader Yugal Kishore Verma, the organisation's secretary for Saket district. Mythology says that King Dasarath was blessed with four sons only after he organised a Putresh Yajna to appease the gods.
Verma said that the preparations for the ceremony were being monitored closely by top VHP leaders. “Two months ago, Ashok Singhal had come here,” he said. “He himself went to see the status of the statues meant for this yajna.”
“Karsevakpuram has come alive over the last couple of months,” said Krishna Kumar Singh, the VHP worker who runs a book shop at the Mandir Nirman Karyashala (temple construction workshop). “We all are waiting for Modiji to take oath. The moment that happens, the work in the karyashala will be put on fast track.”
Singh is not alone in his optimism. Everyone at Karsevakpuram seems upbeat about the prospect of Narendra Modi becoming the Prime Minister of India, and everyone asserts that the first thing the new Bharatiya Janata Party government will do is to pass a bill to ensure the construction of temple at the site where once Babri Masjid stood. The VHP is the more militant associate of the BJP and was at the forefront of the violent campaign in the 1990s that resulted in the demolition of the Muslim shrine.
Karsevakpuram was where Sangh Parivar activists camped during the the Ayodhya agitation. The Mandir Nirman Karyashala started functioning in 1989, and the fabrication work has picked up since 1991.
“Karsevakpuram becomes active at the time of every election,” said Nagendra Upadhyay, the supervisor of the Mandir Nirman Karyashala. "But this time the situation is completely different and the level of enthusiasm is unusually high because it seems that the construction of temple is round the corner."
But why is he so confident? Hasn’t Modi completely avoided any mention of the Ram temple during the campaign?
“That is tactical,” Upadhyay said. “Every party will pounce on him the moment he says this. We understand why he is silent on this issue. See what Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said only two days back.”
On Saturday, BJP leader Naqvi said at Bokaro in Bihar that the BJP wanted the temple to be built. “We want a Ram mandir to be built and will find ways to solve the issue within the constitutional framework after forming the government,” he said.
Simultaneously, preparations are underway for a massive Putresh Yajna that will take place soon after Modi comes to power. “Finishing touch is being given to the statues of King Dasarath, his three wives and their four sons,” said VHP leader Yugal Kishore Verma, the organisation's secretary for Saket district. Mythology says that King Dasarath was blessed with four sons only after he organised a Putresh Yajna to appease the gods.
Verma said that the preparations for the ceremony were being monitored closely by top VHP leaders. “Two months ago, Ashok Singhal had come here,” he said. “He himself went to see the status of the statues meant for this yajna.”
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