BJP blames it on judicial delays

The Bharatiya Janata Party on Friday joined the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the body of ‘sants' mentored by it in criticising the delayed judicial process for the lack of resolution of the Ayodhya conflict.

This lack of conflict resolution “contributed to the failure” in constructing a Ram temple in Ayodhya, the party said here, without any reference to December 6, 1992 when a crowd led by its leaders and those of the allied Sangh Parivar organisations had razed the Babri Masjid.

Nor did the BJP mention Thursday's Supreme Court decision staying the pronouncement of the verdict scheduled for Friday by the Allahabad High Court while blaming the “judicial delays over the last 61 years” that had “contributed to the failure of the resolution of the issue of construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya.” It added: “We hope this [judicial] process will not be delayed any further.”

While a high-power committee of ‘sants' chaired by Vasudevavand Saraswati of Jyotishpeeth held a meeting here and then addressed the media, the BJP's core committee chaired by party president Nitin Gadkari discussed the Ayodhya issue and adopted a two-line resolution blaming judicial delays for “failure” in constructing a Ram temple. This was later read out to the media by Arun Jaitley, who refused to disclose details of the party's deliberations.

Vasudevanand Saraswati said the ‘sants' wanted an early judicial verdict, but if this did not facilitate the building of a Ram temple over “70 acres” acquired by the Centre, including the disputed site (where the Babri Masjid stood), it would oppose the verdict through a “peaceful” country-wide agitation.