BJP, Sena playing pre-poll Ram temple card: Mayawati

New Delhi: Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) supremo Mayawati slammed the BJP and Shiv Sena on Saturday for raking up the Ram temple issue ahead of the Lok Sabha polls, alleging that it is a "political tactic" to divert attention from their failures. She said that since the matter is with the Supreme Court, parties and outfits must await the outcome and not rake it up in such a way.

"To divert attention from their failures, they have raised the Ram Mandir issue. Had their intentions been good, they needn't have waited for five years. It's their political tactic, nothing else. Whatever their associates like Shiv Sena and VHP are doing is part of their conspiracy," the BSP chief said in a statement read out before the media.

Various organisations were holding programmes in Ayodhya on Saturday for an early construction of the Ram temple there. The former Uttar Pradesh chief minister also urged her party cadre to stay away from organisations such as the Bhim Army, which were allegedly using her and the BSP's name to gather people at their rallies and to seek donations.