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Ayodhya issue: BJP and VHP hurl contradictory remarks
New Delhi, Aug 09: The ever-fuming Ayodhya issue gathered more heat today as BJP and VHP came up with yet another antithetical set of statements. Whereas Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said emphatically that the government cannot be `sacrificed` to fulfill VHP`s demand for a legislation for Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, VHP reacted that the construction of the Ram temple was not at `his mercy`.
New Delhi, Aug 09: The ever-fuming Ayodhya issue gathered more heat today as BJP and VHP came up with yet another antithetical set of statements. Whereas Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani said emphatically that the government cannot be "sacrificed" to fulfill VHP's demand for a legislation for Ram temple construction in Ayodhya, VHP reacted that the construction of the Ram temple was not at "his mercy".
Advani today said the bill can be brought about only if there was consensus among NDA partners and also the Opposition.
"VHP wants us to bring such a legislation which will definitely not get passed in Parliament. It wants us to contest elections on this plank. We are not ready to sacrifice the government," he told.
Advani said as far as BJP was concerned it had already passed a resolution calling for a solution to Ayodhya issue either through court order or an agreement between the two communities.
Reacting sharply to Advani's statement that the NDA government cannot be "sacrificed" for a legislation on Ayodhya, VHP today said the construction of the Ram temple was not at "his mercy" and its agitation on the issue would intensify in the coming days.
"We don't need the sacrifice of any government to construct the temple. Let him continue to govern, we will work for the construction of the temple," VHP senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore told reporters here.
"The temple is not at his (Advani's) mercy. It would be built through the devotion and strength of the Hindu society," Kishore said on the sidelines of a condolence meeting for the late chief of the Ram Janambhumi Nyas Mahant Paramhamsa Ramchandra Das.
Advani's statement, Kishore said, was on "expected lines but people will make him do the needful".
Asked about the shift in the stand of Advani, who had declared at the Mahant's funeral that no power on earth can stop temple construction, Kishore said sarcastically, "one is not a politician if he does not change his statement."
To a question on the BJP's stand that a legislative option was not viable, Kishore said, "We will go to the people, who are more powerful than anybody else."
He said the VHP's apex decision making body and high-power panel would meet in the capital on September 13 to chalk out the future course of action.
"Advani's statement will not make any difference. Our agitation will intensify," he asserted.
"VHP wants us to bring such a legislation which will definitely not get passed in Parliament. It wants us to contest elections on this plank. We are not ready to sacrifice the government," he told.
Advani said as far as BJP was concerned it had already passed a resolution calling for a solution to Ayodhya issue either through court order or an agreement between the two communities.
Reacting sharply to Advani's statement that the NDA government cannot be "sacrificed" for a legislation on Ayodhya, VHP today said the construction of the Ram temple was not at "his mercy" and its agitation on the issue would intensify in the coming days.
"We don't need the sacrifice of any government to construct the temple. Let him continue to govern, we will work for the construction of the temple," VHP senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore told reporters here.
"The temple is not at his (Advani's) mercy. It would be built through the devotion and strength of the Hindu society," Kishore said on the sidelines of a condolence meeting for the late chief of the Ram Janambhumi Nyas Mahant Paramhamsa Ramchandra Das.
Advani's statement, Kishore said, was on "expected lines but people will make him do the needful".
Asked about the shift in the stand of Advani, who had declared at the Mahant's funeral that no power on earth can stop temple construction, Kishore said sarcastically, "one is not a politician if he does not change his statement."
To a question on the BJP's stand that a legislative option was not viable, Kishore said, "We will go to the people, who are more powerful than anybody else."
He said the VHP's apex decision making body and high-power panel would meet in the capital on September 13 to chalk out the future course of action.
"Advani's statement will not make any difference. Our agitation will intensify," he asserted.
Bureau Report