Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Thursday described as 'a public and national issue' the construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya and said the National Democratic Alliance would not make it a poll plank.

"Ram mandir is a public and national issue and this cannot be ignored. We want the issue to be resolved either through a negotiated settlement or by a court verdict, which would have to be honoured by all," he told reporters after releasing the NDA election manifesto.

He was replying to a question as to why the controversial temple issue had been incorporated in the NDA agenda at this juncture.

"We do not want to take the issue any further or make it an election issue," he said.

Elaborating on the portion in the manifesto devoted to the temple, NDA convenor George Fernandes said that the manifesto made it clear that an early and amicable resolution of the issue would strengthen national integration.

"We continue to hold that the judicial verdict in this matter should be acceptable by all. At the same time, efforts should be intensified for a dialogue and negotiated settlement among the concerned parties in an atmosphere of social trust," Fernandes said. "No one can have any objection to this."

He said discussions among concerned parties on the issue had been going on for several years and "I too was involved in it earlier," he said.