New Delhi: In the wake of deferment of the
High Court verdict on Ayodhya title suit by a week, BJP on Friday
said judicial delays in the last six decades were responsible
for failure to resolve the issue, which it hoped will be
sorted out soon.
"BJP is of the considered opinion that judicial delays
over last 61 years have contributed to the failure of the
resolution of issue of construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya.
We hope that resolution of this issue is not delayed any
further," senior party leader Arun Jaitley said.
Jaitley said he had been authorised by the party to
share this statement with the media after due consideration by
the top brass.
A meeting of senior BJP leaders was held at party
president Nitin Gadkari's residence in which, besides Jaitley,
Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Rajnath
Singh, Murli Manohar Joshi, M Venkaiah Naidu and S S Ahluwalia
were present.
Asked about absence of senior leader L K Advani, Jaitley
said he could not attend the meeting as he was leaving for
Somnath temple in Saurashtra region of Gujarat from where he
had started his rath yatra in 1990. Advani visits the temple
every year on September 25.
Advani's rath yatra from Somnath to Ayodhya was mainly
responsible for generating a euphoria over the Ram temple and
helped in catapulting BJP to power in 1998.
BJP's statement today is also a reiteration of its
commitment to build a Ram temple at the disputed site in
Ayodhya. It, however, seeks to blame judicial delays for the
failure to resolve the issue.
Though BJP leaders have avoided a comment on Ayodhya
verdict- Advani had even directed them at a Parliamentary
Party meeting recently not to speak on it- they fear the
judgement may get the matter delayed further.
A senior party leader said yesterday's directives by the
Supreme Court to the Allahabad High Court had taken the
party by surprise and was "a little out of the ordinary".
Many in the BJP agree with the VHP line that the Ayodhya
issue cannot be resolved through reconciliation and thus the
court verdict, whichever way it goes, assumes political
significance.
PTI
First Published: Friday, September 24, 2010, 19:49