Cong treads softly on Ayodhya

Two days after the opposition leaders broke bread at 10 Janpath and vowed to pin down the Atal Behari Vajpayee Government in Parliament, they failed to join hands today to censure the Government over Ayodhya.

The confusion prevailing in the Congress about Hindutva was evident when the party made it clear that it did not want a discussion before February 26 8212; the day Himachal Pradesh and three north-eastern states go to polls. Its allies in the Opposition, the Left parties and the Samajwadi Party were keen on discussion on the issue in the Lok Sabha today.

They stalled Lok Sabha proceedings for over 30 minutes to demand an immediate a suspension of question hour to discuss the Ayodhya issue. The Speaker disallowed the 20 notices given by opposition leaders for the suspension of question hour to discuss Ayodhya, drought and the problems of sugarcane farmers.

The Speaker8217;s ruling came after Mulayam Singh Yadav of the Samajwadi Party and Somnath Chatterjee of the CPIM, who pressed for the suspension of question hour, criticised the Government application in the Supreme Court over the undisputed land at Ayodhya.

BJP chief whip Vijay Kumar Malhotra said the Government8217;s move for vacating the stay was in line with an all-party mandate given to Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee last March to resolve the issue either through negotiations or the court.

Yadav alleged that the Government had raked up the issue afresh for political considerations. He said, 8216;8216;The country is faced with serious economic problems. Drought conditions are forcing the farmers to commit suicide and terrorist activities from across the border are on the rise. At this juncture, the Government wants to divert people8217;s attention by raising the bogey of Ayodhya.8217;8217;

Chatterjee described the application as a 8216;8216;diabolic move8217;8217; aimed at dividing the country on religious lines. He said the application filed before the February-22 VHP Dharam Sansad is a 8216;8216;conspiracy8217;8217; to hand over the acquired land to the VHP.

The Congress, which did not give any adjournment notice over Ayodhya, supported the demand by the SP and Left parties for the suspension of question hour on the issue. Deputy leader of the party Shivraj Patil supported the demand.

The Left parties said that the move to bring an adjournment motion on the Ayodhya issue had to be deferred since neither the BJP nor the Congress was keen to discuss it before the Himchal elections. 8216;8216;Because of the elections in Himachal major political parties are not willing to discuss Ayodhya. Today8217;s notices have lapsed we have to make a fresh move again on February 26,8217;8217; Chatterjee, CPI-M8217;s parliamentary party leader, said.

The show of ambiguity was visible outside Parliament as well. Asked why the party did not move for an adjourment notice on Ayodhya, Congress spokesman Satyavrat Chaturvedi said, 8216;8216;All the like-minded Opposition parties have come together and we have identified various issues to be raised by each during the Budget session. Whichever party8217;s notice gets accepted the rest would support it.8217;8217;

The Congress reiterated that it had been consistently of the view that status quo be maintained until the disposal of the title suit by the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court. 8216;8216;It has always been the Congress stand that a solution of the Ayodhya tangle could be found either through amicable settlement between the two parties or through court verdict8217;8217;, Chaturvedi said.