Ram temple issue: BJP to publicise PM's views

By Our Special Correspondent

NEW DELHI, DEC. 26. The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) plans to make most of the debate on the Prime Minister's controversial statements on Ayodhya and the Ram temple by bringing out a booklet and distributing them among its cadres and the people.

The decision seems to have been taken after an assessment that the Prime Minister's statements contributed ``positively'' to a new enthusiasm in the BJP cadre. It also helped in checking the resentment in the cadre that the party had put favourite issues such as the Ram temple on the back-burner.

The booklet is expected to be ready by January 4 when the party's national executive committee will meet here. State unit presidents will be given copies for translation, if necessary, and wide distribution.

Announcing this today, the party vice-president and spokesperson, Mr. Jana Krishnamurthi, said the reason for embarking on this plan was that after the lengthy debates in Parliament, the cadre and the people wanted to know what exactly the Prime Minister said. ``We received numerous telephone calls from the States asking for details of the Prime Minister's views. Therefore, we decided to bring out a booklet.''

Rejecting the idea floated by some that the BJP was preparing for a mid-term poll, he said there was nothing further from the truth. He denied the party was bringing the Ayodhya issue to centrestage in preparation for mid-term polls. Nor was the booklet idea conceived to further this plan. ``If the parliamentary debates had been televised live, we would not have felt the need to bring out the booklet.''

The party was not willing to commit itself to stopping any plan the Vishwa Hindu Parishad might have on starting construction of the temple early next year. When asked what steps would be taken if the VHP announced plans to start construction of the temple, Mr. Krishnamurthi said, ``The VHP has yet to announce the dates. I do not care what statements it has made; I will react only when the time comes, and the time has not come for the BJP to react.''

The party view was that the Congress had raised the Ayodhya issue by demanding the resignation of the Ministers charged in the Babri Masjid demolition case. ``The Congress could not challenge the BJP politically, it could not challenge its economic policy effectively, and it wanted back the support of the minorities. That is why it raised the issue.''

Mr. Krishnamurthi said the party believed the parliamentary debates ``boomeranged on the Congress''.

`VHP agenda not binding'

PTI reports from Patna:

The former BJP president, Mr. Kushabhau Thakre, today said the VHP's agenda for construction of the Ram temple was not binding on the BJP and nobody would be allowed to take law into their hands on the issue.

``The VHP's agenda is in no way binding on us... The law will take its own course if somebody violates it,'' Mr. Thakre told newspersons here when they drew his attention to the reported deadline of the VHP to raise the temple on the disputed site in Ayodhya.

``The Centre will not allow anyone to take law in their hands on the issue and we will honour the judgment of the apex court on the matter,'' he said.

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