Hari Narayan Rajbhar is the ruling party's MP from Ghosi. (File photo)
Highlights
- Hari Narayan Rajbhar was elected to Lok Sabha from Ghosi, Uttar Pradesh
- He wants house for Lord Ram, says "Ram Lalla has been living in a tent"
- Ram should be given a house under "Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana", he said
A house for Lord Ram is an exigency for a BJP parliamentarian from Uttar Pradesh who has written to the state administration saying it is its duty to provide shelter to the "homeless". Hari Narayan Rajbhar has asked for a house to be allocated to the deity under the Prime Minister's housing scheme.
Mr Rajbhar, 68, has written to the District Magistrate of Ayodhya, home to a decades-old dispute over the site of a demolished mosque that many Hindus believe was built on the ruins of a temple marking the birthplace of Lord Ram.
Lord Ram should be given a house under the government's "Pradhan Mantri Awas Yojana" as "Ram Lalla has been living in a tent, exposed to the harsh weather," the lawmaker writes.
Thousands of worshippers come to the site to pray to idols of Lord Ram or "Ram Lalla (infant Ram)" in a makeshift temple set up after the mosque was razed by Hindu activists in 1992.
Mr Rajbhar is the ruling party's MP from Ghosi and was considered something of a giant-killer when he won against Mayawati's party man in 2014 in his first Lok Sabha election.
Demands for a grand temple at the disputed site have been loud as the 2019 national election, due by May, draws near.
Members of the BJP and its allies have called for a special order to enable the building of the temple, which has been a key campaign promise of the BJP over the years.
The Supreme Court will hear the Ayodhya case in January. BJP president Amit Shah has said while the temple remains the party's priority, the government will not bring an ordinance as the case is in the court.