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
