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New Delhi: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on August 7 categorically said Ayodhya row would be a key issue in the Lok Sabha elections next year and Sangh Parivar outfits would back candidates and political parties which support construction of the Ram temple at the disputed site.

"Organisations involved in the Ram temple movement including VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) would certainly go to the people and ask them to support only those candidates or political parties who support the cause of the Ram temple," RSS spokesman Ram Madhav told reporters.

He, however, said the intensification of the VHP agitation now had nothing to with the elections, neither would the Ayodhya issue be an important issue in the coming Assembly elections in five states.

Though presently, Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Shiv Sena are the only two major parties supporting the temple cause, BJP had been consistently maintaining it would not rake up the Ayodhya issue but would "respond" if the Opposition raises it.

About 160 MPs, mostly belonging to BJP and Shiv Sena, and some National Democratic Alliance (NDA) allies have signed on the VHP pledge to support the the temple cause, Madhav claimed.

Endorsing Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee's recent statement in Ayodhya vowing to fulfil late Mahant Paramhamsa Ramchandra Das' last wish regarding Ram temple, Madhav charged the Opposition with "politicising" a non-issue for the sake of vote-bank politics.

The RSS spokesman also welcomed new Ram Janmbhoomi Nyas chief Nritya Gopal Das' proposal to negotiate with local Muslims on the Ayodhya issue and claimed "some other efforts were also on" to resolve the imbroglio.

PTI