Left slams Vajpayee offer as poll gimmick

The Left parties today trained their guns on Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee for renewing the offer of an out-of-court settlement of the mandir...

The Left parties today trained their guns on Prime Minister A.B. Vajpayee for renewing the offer of an out-of-court settlement of the mandir-masjid dispute.

Warning the Vajpayee-led Government against diverting Ayodhya dispute from the judicial process, CPI national secretary Shameem Faizi said: ‘‘Instead of assuring other political parties, the PM should rein in the Sangh Parivar, particularly the Minister of Home Swami Chinmayanand, from using Ayodhya for political purpose.’’

Calling the PM’s offer ‘‘yet another election gimmick’’, senior CPI national executive member Atul Anjan said: ‘‘Both the PM and his Deputy L.K. Advani are preparing the team BJP for what they call the ‘‘semi-finals’’, the Assembly elections before the Lok Sabha polls. Hence the tactical revival of the Ayodhya issue.’’

The CPI also found a conspiratorial link between the allegations made by five karsevaks on Advani’s role in the felling of the masjid and the PM’s statement yesterday. ‘‘It is an election gimmick, but people are not going to vote on the basis of who destroyed the masjid when they are reeling under water and power crisis.”

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