Uttar Pradesh Bharatiya Janata Party president Vinay Katiyar will embark on a jagran yatra from Saturday to enlist support for the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.

Issues such as Muslim invasions from the days of Mohammed bin Qasim to Babar, the Ram Janambhoomi, cultural nationalism, the achievements of the Bahujan Samaj Party-BJP coalition in UP and the National Democratic Alliance at the Centre, will be raised during the yatra, which will conclude at Varanasi on June 18, he said.

"The objective of the yatra, beginning from Garh Mukteshwar, is to widen the party base so as to ensure that in the next elections we get a mandate similar to 1991 for constructing the Ram temple and taking other major initiatives," Katiyar said in New Delhi.

BJP's 'bittersweet' ties with the BSP, population control and the situation in Jammu and Kashmir, including abrogation of Article 370, will also be raised during the yatra, he said.

Party president Venkaiah Naidu and Union Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi will attend the yatra, Katiyar said.

Claiming that items supporting the existence of a temple were unearthed during the excavations at Ayodhya, he appealed to the Muslims to give up their claim on the disputed site and assured that it could close the 'chapter of disputes' forever.

"Otherwise, it could lead to demands for excavations not only in Mathura and Kashi, but also hundreds of other places."

PTI