New Delhi: In a desperate bid to keep the emotive Ram Mandir issue simmering ahead of the Lok Sabha elections, the RSS on Friday had to issue a clarification after its second-in-command Bhaiyyaji Joshi’s remarks on setting a new 2025 deadline for the temple was perceived as a jab directed at the Narendra Modi government. Both the RSS and Mr Joshi later asserted that he had not said that the temple construction would begin in 2025, but that its construction should begin now so it is completed by the time the next “Maha Kumbh” takes place in 2025. The Sangh Parivar-affiliated “dharamsansad” of saints and seers is likely to make a “major announcement” during their conclave starting on January 31 in Prayagraj, the venue of the ongoing Kumbh Mela.

With the crucial Lok Sabha polls just around the corner, Mr Joshi’s remarks at Prayagraj on Thursday at an event setting a new 2025 deadline for the temple set political circles abuzz with the speculation that the RSS had “lost hope” that the temple would be built in the tenure of the BJP government. For the past few months, the RSS-led Parivar had been building up pressure on the Modi government to start the temple construction, with the VHP setting the recent Winter Session of Parliament as the deadline for an ordinance on the subject, which was criticised by the Opposition as a poll gimmick aimed at the BJP’s core votebank and the Sangh Parivar cadre.

However, Prime Minister Narendra Modi made it clear that an ordinance on the Ram Mandir would arise only the judicial process was over and the Supreme Court gives its verdict.

“1952 mein Somnath mandir ki sthapna ke saath desh gati se aage badha... 2025 mein Ram Janmabhoomi ke upar mandir banane ke baad fir is disha ko aur gati prapt hone wali hai... Ayodhya ke mandir nirmaan ke baad desh agle 150 saalon ke liye punji praapt karega (With the construction of the Somnath Temple in 1952, the country grew... with the construction of the Ram Mnadir in Ayodhya in 2025, the country with again grow and will develop for the next 150 years),” the RSS leader said at the Kumbh Mela event in Prayagraj on Thursday.

However, when asked about his remarks on Friday, Mr Joshi said the RSS wants the temple to be constructed and it should be built by 2025, but that it was up to the government to decide.

“(20)25 ko shuru karne ki baat nahi ki hai... aaj shuru hoga to paanch varsho mein banega (I did not say that the construction should begin in 2025, but should be complete by then if it starts today),” said Mr Joshi. The RSS also released a statement after Mr Joshi’s earlier remarks sent out a “negative message” on the issue.