In a bid to take the wind out of the gathering storm over his Ayodhya remarks, Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee today said there was no change in the Government’s stand on the Ayodhya dispute which he felt could only be resolved through a negotiated settlement or a court verdict. ‘‘There has been no change in our stand on the Ayodhya issue. We have been saying from the beginning that a temple should be constructed with harmony, mutual agreement and cooperation,’’ Vajpayee told a delegation of Delhi BJP leaders, a day after he came under attack from Opposition parties for promising a temple at the disputed site when he had gone to Ayodhya for the last rites of Ramjanmabhoomi movement leader Paramhans Ramchandra Das. But the Opposition, led by the Congress, was not satisfied with his ‘‘clarification,’’ saying it had become the ‘‘PM’s habit to change statements.’’ Lok Janshakti leader Ram Vilas Paswan said the Opposition would bring an adjournment motion in the Lok Sabha on Monday over Vajpayee’s remarks in Ayodhya. Earlier, addressing BJP workers at his residence today, Vajpayee said the Ayodhya issue could be resolved through mutual agreement between Hindus and Muslims. ‘‘Efforts are on in this direction and I believe that these efforts are moving towards a positive direction,’’ he said. ‘‘The other option is that the issue should be left to the court. Whatever verdict is given by the court, should be accepted by all,’’ he said. The Opposition parties on Saturday attacked the Prime Minister for his speech in Ayodhya, accusing him of deviating from the NDA agenda and threatened to raise the issue in Parliament on Monday. The NDA’s largest ally TDP asked political parties to wait for a court ruling on the Ayodhya issue and until then attend to other problems ailing the country. ‘‘I request all political parties to wait for the judgment of the court,’’ TDP MP Yerran Naidu told a TV channel. ‘‘You should concentrate on other issues. The country is facing so many problems. You have to spend more time in and out of Parliament to attend to these issues,’’ he said. But NDA partner DMK’s president M Karunanidhi demanded that Vajpayee clarify his speech to clear people’s ‘‘doubts.’’ And Vajpayee today did clarify: ‘‘Yesterday people thought that the Government’s stand on Ayodhya had changed. There is no reason to change our stand. It remains the same.’’ ‘‘It was the funeral function of Paramhansji, it was a condolence meeting, and I had to make a short speech. Covering all the aspects of Ayodhya issue in my speech was neither possible nor required at that occasion,’’ he said. Stating that whatever appeared in the press had created ‘‘some confusion,’’ Vajpayee said he was trying to remove them. ‘‘There should be no confusion in your mind.’’ But the Congress said it was not ‘‘impressed’’ by the Prime Minister’s clarification on his Ayodhya statement, maintaining that it had become Vajpayee’s habit to make statements and then modify them. ‘‘We are not surprised because it has now become a habit of the Prime Minister that he first makes controversial speeches and when the speech is criticised, he gives a clarification,’’ Congress spokesman S Jaipal Reddy said. ‘‘But this has led to lowering of the dignity of both the Constitution as well as democracy,’’ Reddy said. In Chandigarh, Lok Janshakti chief Ram Vilas Paswan accused the Prime Minister of playing to the gallery and said the Opposition would bring an adjournment motion in Parliament on Monday over Vajpayee’s remarks in Ayodhya. Paswan said he had spoken to several Opposition leaders, including CPM leader Somnath Chatterjee, and ‘‘we will raise it in Parliament tomorrow.’’ He said a group of MPs had already given notice of adjournment motion to the Lok Sabha Speaker on the issue. He attacked the Prime Minister for constantly changing his remarks on the issue ‘‘according to the audience he is playing.’’ ‘‘Today, the Prime Minister said in New Delhi that there is no change in the Government’s stand. But two days back he made a statement to cater to the audience (in Ayodhya). This has only exposed him as a mask of the Sangh Parivar,’’ he said.
