There is no change in the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP) position on construction of a Ram Temple in Ayodhya, and it is not an election issue for ruling party, Uttar Pradesh chief minister Yogi Adityanath said Friday.

The BJP supports the demand for construction of a temple at the disputed site, though it has maintained that it will wait for Supreme Court’s verdict. The top court is expected to begin hearings in the case next week.

However, the BJP has been prodded by its ideological parent, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), to consider passing a law to pave the way for construction of the temple.

Adityanath, who will celebrate Diwali at Ayodhya where a makeshift temple has been constructed, said the issue of temple construction is associated with the sentiments of people and cannot be viewed through the prism of electoral politics.

Trying to delink the temple issue from next year’s general election, the CM asserted that for the BJP it is the development work done that will be the basis for its claim to power.

Touching on the potential coalescing of political rivals in Uttar Pradesh into a grand alliance, he said they will not dent the party’s performance. “Gathabandhan (coalition) or not, the BJP will win all 73 seats. (The party had won these seats in the last Lok Sabha elections).”

“While the party has Modiji (Prime Minister Narendra Modi) as the face and the accomplishments of the BJP government, people will want to know who the face of the Opposition is. People will compare the five years of BJP rule with the 50 years of UPA rule; and the development work that we have done in five years will outpace the UPA’s work,” he said.

On his government’s performance in 19 months since he took charge, Adityanath said it had ensured widespread mapping of deprived sections under various social security measures.