NEW DELHI, DECEMBER 9: With the BJP's allies in the NDA coalition turning the heat on the Prime Minister's Ayodhya statements, Atal Behari Vajpayee today sought to downplay the issue saying he would ``clarify'' his statement in Parliament and only in Parliament.The PM's remarks came after the TDP today warned him of serious implications if there was any deviation from the common minimum programme of the coalition government. The DMK, too, said that any deviation from the NDA agenda will be unacceptable.The Prime Minister, however, dismissed the Opposition's demand for the resignation of chargesheeted Ministers Murli Manohar oshi, L K Advani and Uma Bharati. ``They have been in the Cabinet for a long time and there is no justification for such a demand,'' he said during an informal meeting with reporters at a lunch hosted by BJP spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra.Why did he raise the issue which had been kept out of NDA agenda? ``It was the Opposition which raised the issue. They stalled the Parliament, demanded resignation of Ministers. I simply responded'', he said.Vajpayee denied that any of the NDA partners had demanded a meeting of the coordination committee. ``In fact, we are interested in having a meeting of the committee. But the timing has to be decided by the convenor,'' he said.The party was ready to debate all aspects of the issue in the Parliament, he claimed. ``I will make everything clear there,'' Vajpayee said referring to opposition's complaint that he was making statements outside Parliament.Former BJP chief Kushabhau Thakre, in fact, went a step ahead and gave a clean chit to the chargesheeted Ministers. ``The struggle waged to fulfil people's sentiments can't be termed criminal acts hence there is no reason for the Ministers to resign,'' he said.Allies however, seemed perturbed. ``We are extending outside support to the government only on the basis of the national agenda of governance agreed upon by all the allies. If there is any deviation from this, we will view it very seriously,'' Telugu Desam Parliamentary Party leader K Yerran Naidu said in Hyderabad.Vajpayee should make a statement on the floor of the house on Monday clarifying his stand since there is already tension and confusion in the country, Naidu said after a meeting of party MPs, chaired by TDP chief N Chandrababu Naidu.Another important constituent of the ruling coalition the DMK, too said issued outside the NDA agenda won't be acceptable to it. There is a consensus on common issues among parties in the NDA, and thrusting a different point of view cannot be accepted, DMK President M Karunanidhi said in a statement in Chennai.Not convinced with Vajpayee's postures, the Congress will continue to press for resignation of three Union ministers chargesheeted in the demolition case. `` We would continue to demand a discussion under rule 184 in the Lok Sabha and rule 170 in the Rajya Sabha,'' party spokesmen Anil Shastri said today. The Congress would not allow Parliament to run if its demand was not conceded, he said.The Samajwadi Party echoed this. ``Till the Prime minister apologises for his statement on the temple issue, there is no relevance of Lok Sabha proceedings,'' SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav said in Lucknow.Union Minister Shahnawaz Hussain, at whose iftar party Vajpayee talked about the temple at the site of the Babri Masjid, called on the PM today apprising him of the confusion among Muslims created by his statement on temple contruction. ``The Prime Minister told me that his remarks had been distorted,'' a convinced Hussain told reporters later.
