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PM steers clear of Ayodhya

After raising a storm over the last couple of days, Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee on Saturday steered clear of any controversy on Ayodhya, saying the government was prepared for a discussion in Parliament.

Vajpayee parried all questions on the controversy caused by his statements on Wednesday and Thursday, saying he would speak in Parliament. "Now, they [the Opposition] complain I am talking outside Parliament. So I have decided not to speak outside Parliament. Whatever I have to say, I will do so in Parliament," he told reporters in an informal chat at a luncheon hosted by Bharatiya Janata Party spokesman Vijay Kumar Malhotra in New Delhi.

Asked how the issue had suddenly come to the fore, he said, "It was not sudden. Those who raised it in Parliament had done so knowing well that the ministers whose resignation they are demanding were in the ministry for some years."

He said there was no relevance or propriety in demanding the resignation of the three ministers, Lal Kishenchand Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti.

Asked under what rule the government was prepared for a discussion, he said, "The rule under which the discussion is to take place is not decided beforehand or by the government. It is up to the speaker to decide under which rule it is to be discussed."

Asked whether the BJP's partners in the National Democratic Alliance had demanded a meeting of the co-ordination committee, Vajpayee said, "I have found out that they have not done so. In fact, we are interested in having a meeting of the committee. As to when it has to be held, it has to be decided by the convener [Defence Minister George Fernandes]."

He rapped the Opposition for stalling proceedings in Parliament for five days in a row, saying, "This does not help in strengthening democracy."

Vajpayee declined to comment on the reported remarks by Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief K S Sudershan on how the Babri Masjid was pulled down on December 6, 1992.

BJP president Bangaru Laxman said the Opposition had raised the Ayodhya issue because Muslims had begun coming closer to the party in the wake of its Nagpur Declaration.

PTI

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