Ram Temple will not be election issue in 2017 UP polls: Arun Jaitley

New Delhi: Union Finance Minister Arun Jaitley on Saturday said that BJP will not make the Ram Temple at Ayodhya an election issue for the upcoming assembly polls in Uttar Pradesh next year, even if it was "important" for the party.

"BJP is not going to make (Ram) temple an election issue. It's an important issue for us, but not an election issue," he told news channel Times Now' in an interview.

Speaking on an alleged exodus of Hindus from Kairana in western Uttar Pradesh, he said it was a "debatable issue".

Jaitley said that it was important issue which must be addressed by the state government.

On Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal's charges against the central government that it does not allow it to function, the union minister said that Delhi being a union territory and seat of the central government has to be governed in a certain manner clearly defined by the Constitution.

Saying that Kejriwal government has got "historic opportunity" with a huge public mandate, Jaitley added that it must work for public welfare.

He also denied any communication gap between central and Delhi governments, and criticized the Aam Aadmi Party government wasting public funds.

"What the Delhi odd-even (traffic regulation) scheme has to do with Chennai," he asked, saying that advertisements about the traffic scheme were published in Chennai newspapers by Kejriwal government.