Union Minister Ram Vilas Paswan on Sunday said the vexed issue of construction of Ram Temple at Ayodhya should be resolved legally. "The Ayodhya issue must be resolved through a court verdict," the Union Consumer Affairs, Food and Public Distribution Minister told reporters.

"Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi did not speak on contentious issues like Ram Temple at Ayodhya and scrapping of Article 370 of the Constitution conferring special status to Jammu and Kashmir and instead sought votes in the name of development and eradication of corruption during electioneering in UP and other states," Paswan said at a press conference. 

Modi has committed to people of Uttar Pradesh to work for empowering poor people, development and eradicating graft and the Yogi Adityanath government should move in that direction, the union minister said.

Paswan, whose party -- Lok Janshakti -- is part of the ruling National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, showered fulsome praise on the prime minister for leading the BJP's campaign in recently held assembly polls in five states, four of which have got a BJP-led government.

"The entire opposition has been swept away by 'Modi Tsunami', particularly in Uttar Pradesh," he said. Pawan said the LJP did not put up any candidate in UP despite having support base as it could have divided votes and benefited opposition parties. He said he does not believe that Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar could lead the opposition campaign against Modi in the 2019 general elections. Kumar does not stand a chance against the PM and will be swept aside in Bihar if elections were to be held on Sunday. The prime minister is so popular among the masses, he said.

The LJP chief drew satisfaction from his party's decent performance in Manipur where it won a seat and is part of the BJP-led coalition government. Speaking on the occasion, Paswan's son and LJP MP, Chirag Paswan, claimed all is not well between Rashtriya Janata Dal supremo Lalu Prasad and Chief Minister Nitish Kumar and therefore, mid-term polls in Bihar cannot be ruled out. "There are reports of sharp differences between Lalu and Nitish... In such a situation, mid-term polls in Bihar cannot be ruled out," he said, adding that the LJP was prepared for any such eventually.

Source: Timesofoman