Samajwadi Party’s Ram Gopal Yadav says Ram Mandir is ‘bekar’, BJP hits back: ’People who opened fire on Kar Sevaks..’

Ram Gopal Yadav, the cousin to Samajwadi party founder and former Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh Mulayam Singh Yadav, courted controversy amid the ongoing Lok Sabha Elections 2024 when he remarked that the Ayodhya Ram Mandir was 'bekar' (useless) and not built according to 'Vastu' (traditional Hindu system of architecture). 

Ram Gopal Yadav, a Samajwadi Party heavyweight, said in an interview with a Hindi TV channel, "It (Ram Mandir) is a useless temple. The temple's blueprint was flawed, and it was not built in accordance with Vastu." 

BJP leaders were quick to react to Yadav's remarks and called him "anti-Hindu" and "anti-Ram". 

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leader Yogi Adityanath said that be it the SP or its ally, the Congress, they were fundamentally 'anti-Hindu' and 'anti-Ram'.

Yogi Adityanath said, "These are the same people who opened fire on Kar Sevaks and even denied the existence of Lord Ram. So it is meaningless to expect such leaders to be sensitive to the religious sentiments of the majority of the country's population and our avowed deities." CM Adityanath echoed a claim made by Prime Minister Narendra Modi about the 2002 Godhra train burning at a recent election rally in Bihar to hit out at Lalu Prasad Yadav, who was the Railway Minister then.

“SP people oppose Ram, shoot at Ram bhakts, support terrorists, celebrate the death of Ram bhakts and shed tears when mafias die...", Adityanath said at an election rally.

Chhattisgarh Chief Minister and BJP leader VD Sai, who cast his vote for the Lok Sabha Elections Phase  3 on Tuesday, also chimed in on hitting back at SP senior leader Ram Gopal Yadav and said, "He is anti-Ram; he can say anything he wants. He declined the invitation to attend the Pran Pratishtha of the Ram Temple. He also raised questions on the existence of Ram".