Congratulatory proposal on Ram temple divides SP

Lucknow, Feb 7 (IANS) Divisions have appeared in the Samajwadi Party after 14 of its members decided against thanking Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for the 'Pran Pratishtha' of Ram Lalla in the newly constructed temple in Ayodhya.

The incident took place on Monday when the proposal to thank the Prime Minister and the Chief Minister for the construction of Ram temple was brought on the floor of the House by Finance and Parliamentary Affairs Minister Suresh Khanna.

Speaker Satish Mahana later concluded that only 14 SP MLAs from across the political ranks opposed the proposal. Others unanimously agreed in favour of the proposal, he said.

"We congratulate Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath for creating history by the installation of Lord Ram at the Janmabhoomi in Ayodhya after approximately 500 years. The grand Ram temple in Ayodhya Dham could be constructed following the Supreme Court verdict after trial in the courts for 161 years. This is the biggest incident of the century because of which our glory has been restored," the proposal read.

Immediately after Khanna read the proposal, veteran SP leader Lalji Verma, intervened and questioned the need for such a proposal. BJP members protested the objection raised by Verma.

Speaker Mahana intervened and said that those who wanted to support the proposal could do so, and others were free to oppose it.

The Speaker then called for voting and saw a few SP members raising hands against the proposal and started counting them.

He concluded that there were 14 SP members, including Lalji Verma, Manoj Paras and Swami Omvesh, who were against the proposal. He declared that barring 14 SP members, all had unanimously agreed in favour of the proposal.

This is the first time that even SP members are divided over the proposal in support of the construction of Ram temple.

The party leadership remained tight-lipped over the development.

As news about 14 SP MLAs opposing the resolution on Ram Temple spread, a hashtag #Ramdrohi_SP started trending on X on Tuesday