Joining the debate over the Archaeological Survey of India (ASI) report on the Ayodhya excavations, Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani today called the report a ‘‘vindication’’ of the BJP stand on the issue.The BJP, he said, never had any doubt that a temple existed at the Ayodhya site. ‘‘The findings of the excavation work have scientifically proved this. It will strengthen our position as far as the temple is concerned,’’ Advani told a meeting of BJP national office-bearers in Bangalore.BJP general secretary Pramod Mahajan later told reporters that the party strategy on the Ram temple issue was not discussed at the meeting.But he reiterated that the ASI report had cleared matters: ‘‘I do not want to comment on the probable decision of the judiciary but I think the Muslim organisations who are emphasising there was a mosque. for them, there is concrete proof.’’Asked if the BJP would bring in a legislation to facilitate construction of the Ram temple, he said the party was keen on it but since the NDA did not agree on it, it didn’t look possible.Mahajan said the BJP would accept the court verdict on the matter. Asked if the Government would make efforts to persuade Muslims in this regard, he said: ‘‘It is a suggestion for action.’’Earlier, dwelling on another BJP pet theme — Sonia Gandhi’s foreign origin — Advani said: ‘‘The Congress is not only led by a person of foreign origin but also raises issues which are absurd.’’According to him, these included the Congress’s opposition to the installation of a portrait of Veer Savarkar in the Central Hall of Parliament and the party’s boycott of programmes associated with the return to Gujarat of the ashes of freedom fighter Shyamji Verma.Implying that the Congress was totally divorced from ‘‘nationalist’’ sentiments, Advani said: ‘‘Even though isolated examples, these show the nature of the Congress leadership.’’He struck out at the Left too, saying its demonstrations against the visit of Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon showed ‘‘pseudo- secularism’’ was not confined to domestic issues. ‘‘It extends to foreign policy too.’’On the eve of the 9/11 anniversary, the Deputy Prime Minister also regretted that Washington had not taken ‘‘sufficient steps’’ vis-a-vis Pakistan despite pledging to fight terror globally after the WTC attacks.On the approaching Assembly polls, Mahajan declared that the BJP would have no truck with any party in any state. He also refuted suggestions that the elections were a referendum on the Vajpayee government, saying these were Assembly polls in states mostly ruled by the Congress. ‘‘We will win Delhi, Rajasthan, Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh decisively and enter Mizoram.’’But BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu sought from voters a ‘‘wider mandate for the BJP-led Government for the next 10 years.’’ He divided all the states in six categories.The election-bound states fell in the ‘Operation 2003’ category. Karnataka, Maharashtra, Bihar, Kerala and West Bengal were classfied as ‘‘agitation states,’’ requiring mass stirs, while Assam, Tamil Nadu and the North-Eastern states were dubbed ‘‘new upsurge’’ states. Gujarat, Goa and Jharkhand — states ruled by the party’s own CMs — obviously fell in the ‘‘good governance’’ category.
