Even as excavation work to determine whether a temple existed beneath the demolished structure in Ayodhya continued at a snail’s pace today, scores of Sangh Parivar activists shouted pro-temple slogans at the complex.Nearly 100 RSS activists had descended at Karsewakpuram — the epicentre of the VHP’s activities here — last night. They took out a cycle rally to the disputed shrine this morning, shouting slogans such as ‘‘mandir wahin banayenge (we will build the temple at the disputed site)’’. They later went for a darshan of Ram lalla. Excavation challenged New Delhi: A petition has been filed in the Supreme Court seeking stay on the Allahabad High Court directive to the ASI to excavate the disputed site in Ayodhya. The petition filed by Naved Yarkhan has sought a stay on the high court order, saying the directive to excavate was violative of a SC order to maintain status quo at the disputed site till disposal of rival suits claiming ownership of 2.77 acres of the disputed site. — PTI ‘‘They had not come as part of any special campaign since their programme was pre-determined. They also went on a darshan of other temples,’’ said VHP secretary Ramphal Singh who arrived at Karsewakpuram this morning.While the RSS is doing its bit by sending the activists for a collective darshan of Ram lalla, the VHP has already stepped up pressure to acquire the undisputed land within the premises.VHP general secretary Praveen Togadia is on a tour of the state and will hold at least 10 public meetings in Uttar Pradesh. ‘‘The VHP will stage a satyagraha in New Delhi from March 27 to April 4 to ask for the handing over of the undisputed land within the acquired premises to the Ramjanmabhoomi Nyas so that construction of a Ram temple can begin there,’’ said VHP media-in-charge (Ayodhya) Sharad Sharma.The VHP’s workshop, few metres from Karsewakpuram, has already been stacked with stones and huge pillars for the proposed temple. ‘‘Nearly 90,000 cubic meters of stone has been carved, which is meant for the ground floor of the temple. The stones and pillars are ready to be carted to the undisputed area within the acquired premises,’’ Sharma said.Meanwhile, the ASI team is inching its way down the earth on the outer portion of the Ram Chabutara but there has been no finding so far. The team marked two more spots today, taking the total figure of points that have been marked for digging to six, of which the excavation is on at four sites.‘‘They could dig up to 6-8 inches,’’ said a representative of a party involved in the disputed shrine case. Twelve more labourers were allowed entry at the site today, taking their number to 35.‘‘Nearly 23 workers are engaged in digging, while the remaining are removing debris from the site, said the labour contractor, Dev Dutt Dubey, who has been assigned the job by the district administration.Additional companies of CRPF and PSC have been deployed in the temple town to prevent any untoward incident in view of Moharram on March 15.
