Kolkata, July 07: The opposition Congress in West Bengal today urged the state government to put pressure on the Centre for initiating appropriate steps to avoid tension over the Ayodhya issue. Raising the issue during mention hour, the Congress chief whip in the state assembly Asit Mitra alleged that the BJP-led NDA government at the Centre was trying to rake up the Ayodhya issue to get political mileage in the forthcoming assembly elections in four states and the Lok Sabha elections.


Observing that the NDA's indulgence in the issue and rejection of Kanchi Sankaracharya's formula to resolve the Ayodhya dispute by the All India Muslim Personal Law Board might create tension in the country, he said the Centre should initiate steps to defuse the tension.

Expressing the Congress' stand on the Ayodhya issue, Mitra said that the ongoing dispute over the "emotive and sensitive" issue should be resolved only through courts.

Chief minister Buddhadev Bhattacharjee, who discussed various other matters with visiting Union Home Minister L K Advani yesterday, should immediately taken up the issue with him to ensure peace in the country, he said.


Bureau Report