Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday said that the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party at the Centre would remain firm on its decisions such as the new Citizenship Act and the revocation of Jammu and Kashmir’s special status. The prime minister added that the decisions were taken in the nation’s interest and the government would stand its ground despite pressure from all sides, reported PTI.
“Be it the scrapping of Article 370 from Jammu and Kashmir or the Citizenship Amendment Act [CAA], the country waited for decisions on these for years,” he said at an event in Varanasi. The prime minister is on a day-long visit to his Lok Sabha constituency.
The prime minister also highlighted other important decision of his administration, including the setting up of a trust to construct the Ram temple in Ayodhya. On February 5, Modi had announced a scheme for the development of the temple during the Parliament’s Budget Session. “As per the orders of the Supreme Court, we have set up a trust,” he had said. “The Sri Ram Janma Bhumi Tirtha Kshetra will be the name of the trust. It will be an independent body.”
The trust was set up after the Supreme Court’s November 9 order directing the Centre to establish it within three months. The temple will be built at the site in Ayodhya, where the Babri Masjid stood till 1992. The court had said that the Muslims should be given a five-acre plot elsewhere in Ayodhya for the construction of a new mosque as relief for the “unlawful destruction” of the Babri Masjid.
Speaking about the trust on Sunday, Modi said: “A trust has been formed for the construction of a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya. This trust will work rapidly.”
Earlier in the day, the prime minister launched around 50 projects to the tune of Rs 1,254 crore in Varanasi. He also unveiled Indian Railway Catering and Tourism Corporation’s “Maha Kaal Express”, which will be the country’s first overnight private train, connecting pilgrimage spots of Varanasi in Uttar Pradesh, and Ujjain and Omkareshwar in Madhya Pradesh. Modi also inaugurated a 63-foot statue of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ideologue Pandit Deen Dayal Upadhyay.
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