Mumbai, Sept 20: Unfazed by the special court in Rae Bareli framing charges against BJP leaders in Babri Masjid demolition case, the BJP today said it was proud to be associated with the Ram temple movement and appealed Muslims to hand over the disputed site at Ayodhya to Hindus.
"The BJP is proud to be associated with the Ram temple
movement and we appeal Muslims to hand over the disputed site
to Hindus to resolve the vexed issue in the wake of the ASI
report," BJP president M Venkaiah Naidu told reporters at the
airport here on way to Solapur to campaign for the September
26 Lok Sabha by-polls.
The Ram Janmabhoomi issue had political overtones and BJP
would face it legally as well as politically, he said.
Referring to the Rae Bareli court's order to frame
charges against BJP leaders, Naidu said: "Let the law take its
own course" but added: "We shall fight the legal battle and
will certainly not give up."
The BJP president said it was the erstwhile Congress
government which had filed the case but BJP-led NDA government
had decided to fight the legal battle rather than choosing to
withdraw the chargesheet.
Referring to the resignation tendered by Union Human
Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi in response
to the court deciding to frame charges against him in the
Babri Masjid demolition case, Naidu said: "We shall convince
him to withdraw."
Naidu also ruled out any impact of the Rae Bareli court's
decision to frame charges against seven BJP leaders, on the
survival of the NDA government.
Naidu attacked the opposition, particularly CPI, for
expressing surprise over the discharge of Deputy Prime
Minister L K Advani from the case.
He said it was ridiculous for Communist leaders to say
"How did Advani manage? They should respect the court's
verdict," he added.
CBI, which had filed the case, was an independent agency
and BJP-led NDA government had not applied any pressure to
absolve Advani from the case, he said.
About other BJP leaders against whom the court had
decided to frame charges, Naidu said: "They were not holding
any ministerial posts. They would continue to hold the
respective posts in the party. Uma Bharati would continue to
be the party's chief campaigner for Madhya Pradesh."
BJP believed that Lord Ram was an embodiment of Hindu
culture and was symbol of national integrity, he said.
"Hindus and Muslims should sit together and by consensus
Muslims should hand over the shrine taking into account that
no Muslim had offered Namaz there for several years and that
the ASI survey report had shred new evidence about the
existence of a temple," the BJP president said.
In Delhi, Chhattisgarh, MP and Rajasthan, where assembly
polls are due, he said BJP will focus on national integration,
law and order security and progress and development issues.
Hitting out at the Congress and failure of its
governments in various states, the BJP leader said every year
this party was stalling proceedings in Parliament.
"The more they talk about Ayodhya issue the more we gain
out of it," Naidu said adding, his party would highlight the
failures of Congress-led governments in various states.
Bureau Report
