Ram Temple should be birthday gift to Atal Bihari Vajpayee: Shiv Sena MPs

New Delhi, Dec 22: Shiv Sena members in Lok Sabha on Monday sought rolling out of Uniform Civil Code, abrogation of Article 370 and construction of Ram temple in Ayodhya as a "birthday gift" to former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee whose birth anniversary falls on December 25.

Sena MP Arvind Sawant said Vajpayee, who headed the first BJP-led government during 1998-2004, used to say that these measures would be implemented when the saffron party gets a majority on its own.

"We have a majority today. Unfortunately, he is not the Prime Minister. This happy occasion has come for us to give this birthday gift," he said during Zero Hour.

Another Sena MP Chandrakant Khaire also demanded execution of Uniform Civil Code, saying followers of all religions and faiths should be covered under one law.

Sawant said the Constitution also calls for Uniform Civil Code and it was time to implement it. Article 370 gives a special status of Jammu and Kashmir and it has prevented the state from joining the national mainstream, he said.

Though these controversial issues have found a mention in BJP's manifesto, its government led by Prime Minister Narendra Modi has so far refrained from making any move and kept silence on their implementation.

PTI