Beginning his speech with 'Jai Siya Ram', the prime minister told the gathering that a grand temple will now be built for 'Ram Lalla', the infant Ram, who had been living in a temporary tent for years.
'If we want real democracy, the economy itself will need to be democratised.'
'We will do it either by removing all the Constitutional hurdles or by mutual consent.'
He also hit out at Akhilesh Yadav, saying the UP chief minister is neither with Backward Classes nor Dalits.
'If you prove that a mandir was demolished and a mosque was constructed there, we will leave the place.'
The push to develop Ayodhya as a tourism centre, accompanied by large-scale infrastructure projects, comes on the back of years of limited income growth and tourist inflows.
Electoral setbacks and thwarted ambition can have an unpredictable effect on leaders,, observes Aditi Phadnis.
The Vishwaguru who addressed the maximum rallies and boasted of being blessed with divine energy, who promised guarantees in his own name, turned out finally not invincible, points out Jyoti Punwani.
Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath has said that after fulfilling Bharatiya Janata Party's poll promise on Ram Temple construction in Ayodhya, work has begun in Mathura and Vrindavan as well.
The Ayodhya district administration has told news channels that litigants in the Ayodhya land dispute case should not be part of any discussions that they broadcast from the temple town during the 'Bhumi Pujan' for the Ram temple on August 5. In an advisory, it also said that if channels are broadcasting a debate or programme from Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh during the ground-breaking ceremony, there should be no comments against any person or religion.
'You can presume that Modi and his party will now focus on the economy.' 'But then, there is the Jharkhand election next month, Delhi soon thereafter and so on.' 'And this isn't a political leadership that takes even a panchayat election lightly,' notes Shekhar Gupta.
A bench of the Calcutta High Court is likely to hear the matter next week.
No one wants to curb the enthusiasm being seen among the people, but at the same time officials feel nothing should be left to chance, as the flood of humanity thronging the temple area poses problems for security personnel.
As BJP leaders went all out to project the event as a moment of national pride, some leaders were directly critical of the ceremony with Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan, belonging to the Communist Party of India-Marxist, slamming the state's role in the Ram Temple consecration, saying the line that demarcates religion and state seems to be 'getting thinner and thinner'.
Why did Modi single out the Congress and its leaders for the most pugnacious verbal assault while sparing other regional adversaries? If he is trying to get some parties to break the Opposition ranks, it means that the BJP's present bravado is for effect. Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay, author of Narendra Modi: The Man, The Times, begins a new column for Rediff.com.
"Bapu, I am here today not as a Prime Minister, but as a Hindu," said Sunak, opening his address at the gathering.
Sunday's yatra proved that it needs both the maturity of locals as well as the police doing their duty, to ensure that a religious procession doesn't turn ugly.
Invitees to the 'pran pratishtha' consecration ceremony at the Ram temple started arriving Sunday in Ayodhya -- once a sleepy town now resplendent with new infrastructure and gripped by heightened religious fervour on the eve of a seminal event in India's political and religious history.
The BJP had registered a one-sided victory on all the 17 SC-reserved seats in the 2014 Lok Sabha elections. But in 2019, out of these 17 seats, it lost Nagina and Lalganj seats to the Bahujan Samaj Party.
The PM urged all citizens to light diyas in their houses on January 22 so that the whole country basks in glory.
'It is best that an amicable solution to the dispute is found outside the precincts of the courts of law,' says former Union home secretary Dr Madhav Godbole.
The main road that leads from Sitapur Road side to the airport has been decked up with several posters carrying images of Prime Minister Modi, and a welcome message.
'His way of communication is different than the first yatra.' 'Maybe his anger and frustration stems from the fact that no one is asking hard questions to the government and he is trying to do that.'
'Sonia did not visit this place once since she won. Who's to say they won't lose this one, too?'
'He has emerged as a formidable leader who cannot be ignored anymore, who cannot be mocked.'
Modi can abandon the path of Hindutva only at risk to his position within his own fraternity. But if he pursues a hard line, he faces the risk of being hauled up by his coalition-partners. For the first time in a decade, Modi is not in enviable situation, observes Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
Asked if he is joining the BJP, Nath said, "If there would be any such thing, I would inform you first."
"My suggestion is that Ram Janambhoomi be handed over for Ram Temple. We cannot change the birthplace of Ram," Swamy said.
'We are also running Ram rasoi (kitchen) free of cost for Ram devotees in Ayodhya'
'Muslims have been observing namaaz for so many years.' 'The BJP wants to divide Hindus and Muslims for political gains.' 'This is happening in Haryana even though Muslims are only present in one district of Haryana.'
'How come the BJP won even in the Muslim belt? I am 100% sure that the BJP would not win in the Muslim belt.'
'The voice coming out of every home is Modi, Modi, Modi...' 'He is in people's hearts. Who can stop us from 400 paar?'
The Congress leader said he believes that democracy is derailed and "we are becoming too authoritarian". "It's all about one-man show," he said.
'They were very vocal on the defence of the Constitution, reservation, SC/ST Act and democratic rights.'
Mahamandleshwar Swami Dharamdev said the yatra conveyed a powerful message of Hindu-Muslim brotherhood across the country.
As a consequence of prominence given to the brutality during those few days, a very important aspect of that episode got almost glossed over. This was the intervention by a very significant section of people who restored faith in humanity, and conveyed the message that only a small section of Indians, that too politically backed, were consumed by anti-Sikh majoritarianism. The overlooked facet of the events of 1984 was the story of significant sections of the city's populace, public figures and nondescript ones, stepping out hand-in-hand, to first stand with little but bravery in hands, in the way of attackers, and thereafter to provide immediate relief to those who lives were uprooted and who lost family members in the violence, recalls Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
With Atishi at the helm it will not be easy for the BJP to continue using the LG's office and the bureaucracy as political instruments to hinder governance and thereby provoke the electorate's ire against the AAP, expects Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
The Delhi battlefield may not be a cakewalk for the Rhodes Scholar.
Ahead of the upcoming Uttar Pradesh assembly polls, Keshav Prasad Maurya, Deputy Chief Minister announced that roads would be constructed in the state after the name of 'kar sevaks' who died in 1990 during Ram Mandir movement in Ayodhya.
The Bharatiya Janata Party vs ruling Dravida Munnetra Kazhagam battle over live telecast of the Ayodhya Ram temple consecration in Tamil Nadu shrines reached the Supreme Court on Monday, with the apex court asking the authorities to act in accordance with the law and not based on any oral instructions.
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