New Delhi, July 03: BJP today rejected the "persistent demand" of VHP for the resignation of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani saying that a legislation on the Ram temple issue would be "suicidal" for the party. "We do not have a majority in Parliament. The Prime Minister and Deputy Prime Minister came to power on the solemn promise of the national agenda of governance which only talks of resolution of Ram temple through mutual negotiation or court verdict and not legislation," party spokesman and general secretary Pramod Mahajan told reporters here.
Reacting to the demand made by VHP leader Ashok Singhal in Thiruvanthapuram, he said "BJP is not opposed to legislation and has almost always supported VHP in that the issue be resolved through negotiation, legislation or court verdict. But, it is a NDA government and legislation is not possible. Besides, where is the number in Parliament to get the legislation passed."
He said after December six, 1992, BJP had lost four governments and therefore the "question is after losing this government (BJP-led NDA government), will we be able to achieve the goal of constructing a ram temple in Ayodhya."
He said the next Lok Sabha elections is only a year away and "VHP and BJP can come together and create an atmosphere by which consensus can be arrived at among all political parties for a legislation."
On the Kanchi Shankaracharya formula, he expressed caution and was not "over-optimistic" that a solution to the temple would emerge over the weekend.

Bureau Report