PM keeps both Hindutva hawks and `secular’ allies happy

Because, he said, the entire nation was in favour of the construction of a Ram temple. Even Muslims were not opposed, he claimed. “How and where the temple is built is very important for the resolution of the dispute,” he told reporters at the iftar thrown by the only Muslim minister in his government, Shahnawaz Hussain. Hussain kept his feelings to himself but the Vishwa Hindu Parishad openly rejoiced at Vajpayee’s endorsement of its temple line.

In fact, VHP general secretary Praveen Togadia told a press conference in the afternoon: “The Prime Minister has given voice to the feelings of the country’s 900 million Hindus.” And added that a convoy of trucks carrying stones for the construction of the sanctum sanctorum of the temple left Rajasthan yesterday and would reach Ayodhya within a week.

Vajpayee’s statement to the press in the evening was supposed to be a clarification of yesterday’s comments but instead of cooling things down, it could aggravate the imbroglio which has stalled Parliament for the past four days.

The Prime Minister appears to have taken the risk of a head-on confrontation with the Opposition on the strength of support from his allies. And the support was very much in evidence despite his reassertion in favour of the temple.

“The Prime Minister has assured us that he will not deviate from the NDA agenda. We are satisfied,” declared the most fiery of his allies, Railway Minister Mamata Banerjee.

Vajpayee sought to temper his suggestion on the proposed site for the temple by adding that a consensus would have to be evolved on this through discussions between the Muslim and Hindu communities.

He said there were only two ways in which the temple could be built – either through a court judgement or through mutual agreement between the Hindus and Muslims. Claiming that the BJP had no secret agenda on Ayodhya, the PM claimed that his yesterday’s statement that “Babri demolition was an expression of national aspirations which still remains imcomplete” did not mean that temple construction remained “incomplete.” Instead, what he meant was that the temple-mosque issue remained “unresolved,” he said.

He said that by giving a clean chit to his chargesheeted Cabinet colleagues, L K Advani, M M Joshi and Uma Bharti, he did not intend to influence either courts or the CBI. “Though the CBI functions directly under the PMO, I never interferred in its functioning, whether it was Ayodhya or any othercase”, he said.

Vajpayee sought to deny reports that NDA allies were unhappy with his yesterday’s utterances. “I explained them the entire situation and they were completely satisfied”, he said, blaming the media for “trying to create a rift between the NDA partners.”

Joshi too refrained from saying anything. “I don’t want to add or substract anything to what Vajpayee has already said. He already had clarified everything”, he said. Though Leader of opposition Sonia Gandhi too attended Hussain’s iftar, she kept away from journalists.

Vajpayee took exception to the Opposition’s attitude as well. They were making mountain of a molehill, he said, adding that the Opposition was also responsible for the smooth functioning of the Parliament.