Ram temple issue will always be alive: Katiyar

Senior BJP leader Vinay Katiyar on Thursday has said the Ram temple matter will always be alive and no compromise can be made over it as it is the party's basic issue.

On Wednesday, he said his remarks should not be connected with the Uttar Pradesh assembly polls but the Ram temple must be build in Ayodhya at any cost. It is the basic issue of BJP and the party cannot leave it, he added.

"The Ram Mandir movement that was started by me 30 years ago became the base for the giant leap of BJP," Katiyar claimed.

"There is no need to connect Ram temple issue with state elections but it is an old matter. It must be raised every time until the construction of the temple," he said.

Supreme Court had recently held that any appeal for votes on the ground of "religion, race, caste, community or language" amounted to "corrupt practice" under the election law provision.

Katiyar's remarks on the issue came a day after BJP state president Kashav Prasad Maurya allegedly had said a "grand" temple will be built in Ayodhya if BJP secures an outright majority.

"Ram Mandir is a subject of faith. It is not going to be built in two months. The temple will be constructed after the elections. BJP will come to power with a full majority," Maurya had said.