Babri cloud: Sangh seize the silver lining

Joshi, who shot off his mouth yesterday saying he would resign if named, paid the price today. But he was the only one sulking.

Because for the party, the timing couldn’t have been better. Gearing up to lend it a helping hand is the RSS-VHP combine with rallies in Delhi and Lucknow on October 15, followed by a march to Ayodhya. The more the Opposition fans the Ayodhya fire, the more the BJP hopes to gain. For, Ayodhya is its turf.

While Muslim leaders expressed shock at the court’s decision to discharge Advani and hinted that they would challenge it, the Sangh leaders welcomed the verdict, the most vocal of them being those who have been charged.

UP BJP chief Vinay Katiyar welcomed the decision to let off Advani. ‘‘As for the rest of us,’’ he said, ‘‘we welcome the chance given by the court to put forward our case on the temple issue. We are confident we will not only be able to prove that we committed no crime but also expose the pseudo-secularists who have been politicising the issue with an eye on the Muslim votebank.’’

Co-accused VHP leader Ashok Singhal said from Lucknow: ‘‘We take orders from the sadhus and sants alone and do not accept the court’s role in the resolution of the Ayodhya dispute.’’

Uma Bharati echoed this saying her seven ‘‘previous generations have been blessed with today’s developments.’’

UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh was out visiting UP’s flood-affected areas, but speaking for the Samajwadi Party its state president Ram Saran Das welcomed the decision. ‘‘However, we would have been happier if the court had not let off Advani,’’ he said.

All India Babri Masjid Action Committee convenor Zafaryab Jilani expressed his shock at Advani’s discharge. ‘‘We had been suspecting something fishy ever since the CBI diluted the charges against Advani and others in the supplementary charge-sheet filed in the Rae Bareli Court on May 31. Our worst fears have been proved true,’’ he said.

Earlier, in New Delhi, BJP chief Venkaiah Naidu was in the midst of a press conference when a beaming party spokesman Prakash Javadekar walked up to the stage and passed a slip to him.

The smiles on the faces of Naidu, Law Minister Arun Jaitley and general secretary Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi indicated good news from Rae Bareli. No one seemed to remember Joshi, Bharati and Katiyar.