Kalyan Singh vows to build Ayodhya temple

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh has made it clear that Ayodhya is still on the Bharatiya Janata Party's agenda.

Addressing the media after he was sworn in as the 27th chief minister on Sunday, Kalyan Singh said, ''We still stick to our resolve that a magnificent Ram temple should be built in Ayodhya. But I am not sure whether this is possible till a BJP government assumes office at the Centre.... The earlier the issue is resolved the better. This kind of dilly-dallying is not in the interest of the Centre, the state, the Hindus nor the Muslims.''

Besides Kalyan Singh, who heads the second six-month rotational term of the BJP-Bahujan Samaj Party coalition government, 43 ministers were sworn in (21 from the BSP and 22 from the BJP).

The entire Mayawati team -- barring one BSP minister Barkhu Ram Verma who had to be dropped as he could not get elected to either House of legislature within the stipulated six-month period since he became a minister -- has been retained.

Outlining his agenda, the new chief minister said, ''There will be no discrimination against anyone and we will create an environment to ensure communal amity.''

Assuring that the law and situation would improve, Kalyan Singh said the police would not be allowed to conceal crime with a view to presenting a rosy picture. ''The sense of security among the people would be the determining factor in evaluating the state's law and order situation. Only this will judge the police's performance -- not mere statistics on the law and order situation.''

The new chief minister also stressed the need for enforcing financial discipline in the state. ''The root-cause of the problems plaguing the state is the age-old practice of releasing and allocating funds to various departments at the fag-end of the financial year. This will be stopped,'' he said.

Asked whether he would pursue Mayawati's plan of developing 11,000 villages as Ambedkar grams, Kalyan Singh said, ''There is nothing wrong with the plan as the villages are backward. But other neglected villages should not get a raw deal.''

As for his earlier objection against the creation of new districts by Mayawati, Kalyan Singh said, ''What has been done is done. So let's not talk about it.''

With a view to boosting the bureaucracy's morale -- Mayawati has effected a record number of some 1400 transfers, demoralising the officials -- the chief minister promised to end ''the spectre of uncertainty and insecurity''. At the same time, the officers would be made accountable for their actions or lapses and the corrupt dealt with sternly, he added.

As for the Hindutva card, Kalyan Singh reiterated the BJP's resolve to ensure cow protection. ''Earlier, our government passed a legislation banning cow slaughter. The legislation is pending with the Centre. We will pursue it.''

Significantly, the aesthetically designed and erected stage for the swearing-in ceremony, at a sports stadium in Lucknow, resembled a temple with a saffron flag fluttering atop.

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