Ayodhya dispute adjudicated, now focus on public issues: Goa Congress chief to BJP

Goa Congress president Girish Chodankar said on Saturday that BJP could no longer use the Ayodhya issue as a poll plank and asked the Centre to focus on issues that affect the common man.

Thanking the Supreme Court for adjudicating the Ayodhya dispute, he said: "BJP was making Ayodhya Ram Mandir issue a poll plank issue during every election. Now BJP can no longer make it an emotional issue to garner votes."

He asked Prime Minister Narendra Modi to keep aside emotional issues like Ayodhya, Jammu and Kashmir and Pakistan and focus on other issues affecting the common man and bring 'Acche Din' as promised.

"Economic slowdown, unemployment, rising inflation, agriculture, black money issues etc should be the priority for BJP led government at the centre and they should not try to deviate issues," the state Congress chief said in a statement.

He also asked the BJP to fulfil its promises made during the 2014 general elections.

Notably, construction of grand Ram Temple in Ayodhya has been BJP's long-time promise.

The Congress leader was reacting on the Supreme Court's judgement ruling that the Centre would set up a trust in three months to help build a Ram Temple at the disputed 2.77-acre site in Ayodhya. The court ordered that the Muslims should be given five acres of land elsewhere in Ayodhya to construct a mosque.

( With inputs from ANI )