RSS flags off nine-day-long 'Sankalp Rath Yatra' for early construction of Ram Temple

Babri Masjid-Ram Janmabhoomi case, the socio-religious debate between Hindus and Muslims, has been a key aspect of India's political system for more than two decades now. With 2019 Lok Sabha elections just a few months away, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Saturday started its nine-day 'Sankalp Rath Yatra', pressing their demands for early construction of Ram Temple at the disputed land of Ayodhya.

Starting from New Delhi's Jhandewala temple, the RSS's 'Sankalp Yatra' will continue for nine days and is scheduled to end at the Ramlila Ground on December 9. The mega rally, which witnessed an underwhelming start on Saturday, is conducted by the Swadeshi Jagran Manch, a group affiliated to the Sangh. While the right-wing organisation expected lakhs of people to participate in the rally, barely a hundred activists on Saturday turned up to show their support for the early construction of Ram Temple.

The nine-day-long 'Sankalp Yatra' came on the heels of the Supreme Court's October 29 declaration, fixing the Ayodhya land dispute case for the first week of January before a three-member “appropriate bench”. Since then, the RSS has been demanding an ordinance or a law to build a Ram temple in Ayodhya at the earliest, saying the Supreme Court's decision to defer the hearing in the land dispute case "hurts" Hindu sentiments.

The Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), which also took part at the mega rally - 'Sankalp Yatra', earlier claimed that the government should show the same urgency in bringing an ordinance for the construction of a Ram temple as it did to amend the SC/ST (Prevention of Atrocities) Act.

They also expressed their hope that the BJP-led NDA government will bring the Bill in the Winter Session of Parliament, as, according to them the saffron party was  a part of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement in 1992.