Indore, Feb. 18: In an effort to resolve the contentious Ram Mandir issue, BJP president Nitin Gadkari on Thursday came up with an "exchange" offer for Muslims, saying that if they helped build the Ram Mandir, then the BJP, in turn, would help construct a "grand" mosque for them.

Trying to reach out to minorities while addressing the party’s national executive on the second day of its three-day session here, Mr Gadkari sought their help to strengthen the nation. However, he remained evasive on other contentious matters. Earlier, he had made a similar attempt to reach out to dalits in order to counter the Congress.

Mr Gadkari, who is trying desperately to tread a middle path between the Sangh Parivar’s hard line and a more secular stance, said his party would prefer to arrive at an amicable solution to the Ram Mandir issue rather than settle the matter through the courts. "In litigation, one party may win and the other may lose," Mr Gadkari pointed out. A section of saffron leaders claimed Mr Gadkari’s approach to the temple issue was in sharp contrast to that of his predecessor Rajnath Singh, who had adopted an aggressive approach. Mr Gadkari, who is considered to be an RSS man, exhorted Muslims to "see for themselves what the BJP stands for."

While he did not rake up any other contentious matters, the BJP president attacked the Centre for "yielding to external pressure on the Kashmir issue", but did not refer to the party’s demand for the abolition of Article 370 of the Constitution, which provides a special status to Jammu and Kashmir.

Mr Gadkari’s efforts to win over dalits and Muslims are seen as an attempt to expand the party’s vote base. There is a strong feeling in the party that the BJP has got confined to its upper caste votebank, which too has of late started to shift to other parties, particularly the BSP and the Congress, in northern India.

Earlier, former BJP president Rajnath Singh also changed tack while asking Muslims to join the BJP, but refused to budge from his hawkish stance. He argued that a party which "tries to shift from its core ideology ends up losing its committed votebank."

While Mr Singh said he felt "bad" that senior BJP leader L.K. Advani had failed to make it to the prime ministership, Mr Gadkari said "winning and losing is there in politics". One must "always be positive", he said, whatever the result, but went on to reassure partymen that his aim was to ensure a BJP victory in the 2014 general election. Reiterating that only those who perform would be promoted, not sycophants, Mr Gadkari asked party workers to participate in large numbers in the Antyodaya Abhiyan, which was aimed at helping the poorest of the poor.

Attacking the Congress’ track record in tackling terrorism, Mr Gadkari said a senior leader of that party had tried to play votebank politics by raising doubts about the authenticity of the Batla House encounter in New Delhi in 2008. The BJP, he reiterated, was "not against Muslims", it was "only against terrorists". The party chief also clarified that the BJP would continue to oppose religion-based reservations of any kind.

Yojna Gusai