Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said people's "patience" on the issue of Ram temple is "fast running out" and if the Supreme Court is unable to give an early verdict on the dispute, it should "hand it over to us" and it will be resolved within 24 hours.
The Chief Minister also claimed that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) will win more seats in Uttar Pradesh in the coming Lok Sabha elections than it did in 2014.
Asked by India TV whether he would resolve the Ayodhya issue through negotiations or by wielding the stick, Adityanath smiled and replied: "First let the court hand over the issue to us.
"I will still appeal to the court to dispose of the dispute soon. On September 30, 2010, the Allahabad High Court division bench gave its verdict not on the issue of division of land but upheld the view that the Babri structure was built by demolishing a Hindu temple or memorial. The Archaeological Survey of India, on the High Court's orders, carried out excavations and in its report admitted that the Babri structure was built by demolishing a Hindu temple or a memorial," he said.
"By adding the title dispute unnecessarily, the Ayodhya dispute is being prolonged. We appeal to the Supreme Court to give us justice at the earliest, to the satisfaction of millions of people, so that it can become a symbol of people's faith. But if there is unnecessary delay, institutions may lose people's trust," he added.
The Chief Minister said "the unnecessary delay ... is causing a crisis so far as people's patience and trust are concerned."
"I want to say that the court should give its verdict soon, and if it is unable to do so, it should hand over the issue to us. We will resolve the Ram Janmabhoomi dispute within 24 hours. We won't take 25 hours," he said.
Asked why the Centre had not brought an ordinance, Adityanath said the matter was sub judice. "Parliament cannot discuss matters that are sub judice. We are leaving it to the court. Had the court given justice based on the 1994 affidavit filed by the then central government, a good message could have gone to the country. It would have been a nice example. But this unnecessary delay is causing a situation where people's patience is fast running out."
He said the question was not of gain or loss in elections but the faith of countrymen.
Adityanath said the Congress was at the root of this problem and it did not want it to be solved.
"If Ayodhya dispute is resolved, triple talaq ban is implemented, politics of appeasement in India will end forever."
On the SP-BSP alliance in Uttar Pradesh, the Chief Minister said that even if they take "the caste-based fight to the lowest levels, it will be a 70-30 fight. Seventy per cent voters are with BJP while the remaining 30 per cent are with the gatbandhan (alliance)".
On Priyanka Gandhi's entry in politics, Adityanath said: "Congress has again proved that for them the family is the party. They cannot look beyond the family."
On Rahul Gandhi visiting temples, Adityanath said: "This is a victory for our ideology. Rahul has now realised that if he has to live in Hindustan, he will have to show his 'janeu' and 'tilak' in public. To me, Rahul has proved that Nehru was wrong."
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