Hubballi, Oct 21 (IANS): BJP national general secretary for south India, C.T. Ravi, on Tuesday said that the party aims to wrest power in Tamil Nadu, Puducherry and Kerala in the coming elections there.

Speaking to reporters here, Ravi said that the party is aiming to launch a victory march not just in southern states, but also in states such as West Bengal.

"We have a strategy in place and we are working based on that to achieve the desired results in the next Assembly elections in these states (wherever we have not won so far). As in-charge of the southern states, I have been travelling across the region assigned to me and I am confident that the BJP will win here," he explained.

Terming the six-year term of Prime Minister Narendra Modi as 'golden era of reforms', Ravi said that more than 100 archaic rules, which were redundant, have been changed to give impetus to growth.

"These changes will certainly bear fruits in the days to come. Be it construction of nine crore toilets or amending land reform laws or farm laws or changing APMC laws, people have been empowered by bringing reforms in these sectors," he said.

In response to a question, Ravi stated that winning all the four MLC seats is a forgone conclusion.

"We are in the process of thinking about what could be our lead when we defeat our nearest rivals," he said, asserting that no amount of rebel candidates contesting would spoil the chances of the ruling BJP in the ensuing MLC elections to four seats.

The MLC elections will be held October 28, while by-polls to two Assembly seats - Sira in Tumkuru and Rajarajeshwari Nagara in Bengaluru - will be held on November 3.

He added that the BJP is confident of winning both the Assembly seats in the bypolls as well.

Society to decide if Mathura-Kashi should have mosque or temple

BJP national general secretary C.T. Ravi said on Tuesday that the society would decide if Mathura and Kashi should have a mosque or a temple.

Speaking to reporters here, Ravi claimed that the BJP cannot take decisions on each and every matter faced by the society, adding that the Ram Mandir in Ayodhya had its own history of struggle.

"It was a 500-year-long struggle which the BJP joined. The Indian society itself is capable of finding solutions to such problems," he said, adding that he is confident that the society will take an appropriate decision at the right time.

It would be worth noting here that the Gyanvapi mosque shares a boundary wall with the Kashi Vishwanath temple in Varanasi, while the Shahi Idgah mosque stands next to the Krishna Janmabhoomi temple in Mathura.

Soon after the Supreme Court pronounced its verdict in favour of the Ram Mandir Trust, BJP leader and Rural Development and Panchayat Raj Minister in Karnataka, K.S. Eshwarappa, had stated on August 5 that "a symbol of slavery disturbs our attention and points out that you are a slave."

He had further reiterated his stance and claimed that all Hindus across the world have a dream that those symbols of slavery should be removed on the lines of Ayodhya.

"The masjids in Mathura and Kashi will be destroyed too and temples will be rebuilt," the minister had maintained.