PM chides Oppn’s new bhakti in Ram

Making a veiled criticism of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Vajpayee admitted that for some of his party members and associated organisations time had stood still since December 6, 1992 (the day the Babri Masjid was brought down). “I would, however, like state that a lot had changed since then and that the need for the government in power was to adhere to the politics of consensus.”

Assuring the House that the disputed site at Ayodhya would be protected at all costs, thePrime Minister said the site itself was under the control of the central government and adequate security, including a round-the-clock magistrate, had been deployed there.

He criticised the Opposition for raking up old issues which had nothing new in them. It was being made to appear as if the carving of the pillars of the proposed temple began only after the BJP government came to power whereas in fact work had been going for the last eight years, since September, 1990, he said.

“Several non-BJP governments have been in power at the Centre and in UP since 1990 and all of them were aware of the carving of these pillars…the work was being done in the open and there was nothing wrong about it,” he asserted. He said the work of polishing and construction of temple pillars started in Uttar Pradesh when Mulayam Singh Yadav was the chief minister there. He said even Rajesh Pilot as the internal security minister visited some of these construction sites but at that time no body raised the question of puttinga ban on their construction activities.

He said even during the United Front Government, the then home minister Indrajit Gupta received a letter where all these activities were mentioned and request was made to him for putting a ban on the construction activities.

But Indrajit Gupta did not think it proper to do so and that letter is now a property of the House, he added.

Maintaining that the Government was committed to abiding by the verdict of the court on Ayodhya issue, the Prime Minister hoped that the Supreme Court would give an early decision on the matter. “The more this issue is stretched, the more it is in danger of being used as a tool by political parties.”

Seeking to assure the House that there was no conspiracy on the part of his government on the matter, Vajpayee said that the BJP did not believe in divisive politics and understood very well that communal harmony was the need of the hour.

He also announced that the term of the Liberhan Commission inquiring into the events leading tothe demolition of the Babri Masjid at Ayodhya would be extended by the Government.

The Commission’s term is coming to an end on June 30 this year and Opposition members in the Rajya Sabha had yesterday demanded that it be given a further extension.

Meanwhile, the Congress today said it might move the court to stop ongoing construction work for the disputed Ram temple at Ayodhya, after faltering in its attempt to take the BJP-led government on in Parliament over the matter.

Party spokesperson Ajit Jogi claimed the party was upto something on the issue and was talking to like-minded parties on it.

“Wait for sometime, you may have some news,” Jogi hinted when grilled on the party’s failure to move an adjournment motion on the issue in the Lok Sabha after having suggested it might do so.