PM Modi urges ministers to maintain harmony ahead of Ayodhya verdict

New Delhi: Ahead of the Supreme Court verdict on the Ayodhya issue, Prime Minister Narendra Modi discussed the matter with his council of ministers in Delhi on Wednesday and asked them to refrain from making unnecessary statements on the subject and maintain harmony in the country, sources said. The Prime Minister made these remarks at a meeting of the council of ministers while asserting the need to maintain an atmosphere of amity and harmony in the country.

The Supreme Court is likely to deliver its verdict on the Ayodhya issue before Chief Justice of India Ranjan Gogoi retires on November 17. In the latest edition of his "Mann Ki Baat" radio programme on October 27, PM Modi had recalled how the government, political parties and civil society prevented attempts to create fissures when the Allahabad High Court ruling on the disputed land in Ayodhya was to be delivered in 2010.

He had described it as an example of how a united voice could strengthen the country. The Prime Minister told his council of ministers that they should refrain from making unnecessary remarks on the issue and maintain an



atmosphere of amity and harmony, the sources told PTI. He also emphasised that the verdict should not be seen through the prism of victory and defeat, they added.

The remarks of the Prime Minister came days after the ruling BJP asked its workers and spokespersons to refrain from making provocative statements on the Ram temple issue. The party also told its MPs to visit their constituencies for maintaining calm. The ruling party's ideological mentor, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), issued a similar word of caution to its cadre a few days ago. The top leaders of the Sangh, at its recent meeting of "pracharaks", had asked them not to celebrate or carry out processions if the Ram temple verdict was in their favour. Senior RSS and BJP leaders reached out to prominent Muslim clerics and intellectuals on Tuesday and held a meeting with them. The meeting was held at the residence of Union minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi in the national capital. The five-judge Constitution bench reserved its verdict in the Ayodhya land dispute case on October 16 after a marathon 40-day hearing.