The Centre's petition in the Supreme Court seeking a modification of its 2003 order to return the excess land around the disputed Ayodhya site to its original owners has caused ripples in the political circle, with parties questioning the timing of the petition, barely months before the Lok Sabha elections in May. The CPI(M) alleged it was a "devious" effort on the part of the government to "pre-empt" the decision of the Supreme Court, which is hearing the land dispute case. In an official statement, the Left party said the petition was aimed at appeasing the Sangh Parivar ahead of the polls. "The politburo of CPI(M) expresses its strong disapproval of the petition moved by the central government in the Supreme Court to remove the status quo in the non-disputed land that it had acquired in Ayodhya. It wants to handover the land to the Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas that has been set up by VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) to undertake the construction of the Ram temple at the site," it said. "The Centre now claims that only 0.313 acres is actually disputed. This move of the centre is clearly aimed at appeasing the Sangh Parivar which is demanding immediate construction of the temple at all costs. Obviously, all these moves are being orchestrated keeping the impending Lok Sabha elections in mind," the statement said. AIMIM's Asaduddin Owaisi also hit out at the government, calling it "another example of bringing the Political fight of the Central Government in the Court Room." "This insidious attempt by the Central Government should not be ignored. They're trying everything in their capacity to prevent a fair & independent adjudication of the Babri Masjid dispute," he said. While the Congress maintained silence on the matter, party spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi told a news channel that the BJP is resorting to deflection of prevailing issues ahead of polls and that the Supreme Court should be allowed to announce a verdict as it is already hearing the land dispute case from all sides. The top court was supposed to hear the land dispute case today but it got cancelled as one member of the five-judge Constitution bench was not available. The centre moved the Supreme Court seeking modification of its 2003 order to allow it to return to original owners the 67.390 acre of "non-disputed" acquired land around the disputed Ram Janambhoomi Babri Masjid structure in Ayodhya. The Vishwa Hindu Parishad welcomed the petition, calling it a step in the right direction. Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath said permission should be given to start work on the undisputed piece of land. The government had acquired 67.703 acre, including the 2.77 acre, through a legislation in 1993. The Ram Janambhoomi Nyas (RJN) is the owner of as much as 42 acre of the acquired non-disputed land. The application filed by the BJP-led NDA government on Tuesday claimed that only 0.313 acre land on which the disputed structure stood before the demolition was disputed portion of the land. (Inputs from PTI)
