Did UP BJP chief really say Ram Janmabhoomi was never an election issue?

Uttar Pradesh Bhartiya Janata Party (BJP) chief Keshav Prasad Maurya on Wednesday said that the Ram Janambhoomi phenomenon was never an election issue for his party.

His statement came as a shock for everyone as it was LK Advani atop a chariot with accompanying chants of Jai Sri Ram by die-hard Hindutva supporters that had set the tone for BJP's bid to come to power in 1989.

Addressing a press conference in Circuit house, Kanpur, on 20 April, Maurya also expressed confidence that the party will win an absolute majority by bagging more than 265 seats in the 403-member House in the upcoming state elections.

Asserting that Ram Mandir was never a poll issue for the saffron party, he said the party will contest the elections on development issue.

With a jibe at the Congress, he said that the BJP will root out the ruling Samajwadi Party the way it upstaged Congress in 2014 Lok Sabha elections.

"Only one family is ruling Uttar Pradesh since years. People are fed up with it. Our main planks this time will be ending SP's nepotism and BSP's corruption," he said

How the Ram Mandir has always been a poll issue for the saffron brigade:

In 1996, the BJP in its election manifesto had reiterated its commitment to facilitate the construction of a magnificent Ram temple in Ayodhya, on coming to power.

In 1998, BJP announced that it is committed to facilitate the construction of the Ram Mandir and will explore all legal, consensual and constitutional means to start the construction.

In 2004, the saffron party reaffirmed its commitment to the construction of Ram Mandir in Ayodhya.

In 2009, the BJP said, "People in India and abroad have the desire that one a day a grand temple will be built in Ayodhya, at the birth place of Lord Ram."

The party had also promised to explore all possibilities, including negotiations and judicial proceedings for constructing the temple. Similarly in 2014, the BJP reiterated its stand to explore all possibilities within the framework of the Constitution to facilitate the construction of the temple.