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NDA not for handover of disputed land in Ayodhya
By Neena Vyas and K.V. Prasad
NEW DELHI, JAN. 26. The `sants' led by the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and the Government could be heading for a showdown on the Ayodhya issue.
As the `chetavani sant yatra' which left Ayodhya on January 20 entered the capital today from Ghaziabad, the Prime Minister, Atal Behari Vajpayee, hurriedly consulted leaders of his coalition partners this evening. He informed them that tomorrow he would receive a delegation of `sants' led by the VHP leader, Ashok Singhal. Apparently, the informal NDA meeting decided that the Prime Minister should simply reiterate the known stand of the Government on the Ayodhya issue.
While the `sants' have made it clear that tomorrow its leaders will ask Mr. Vajpayee to hand over 47 acres of the 67 acres acquired by the Centre in Ayodhya in 1993, to facilitate the start of construction of a Ram temple, NDA leaders emphasised that the Ayodhya tangle should be resolved either through a verdict of the court or through negotiations. There was no question of handing over any part of the acquired land to any VHP-controlled trust.
The sole purpose of the `yatra' was to finalise a date for the start of construction of a temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya. The decision on this is to be taken by the Marg Darshak Mandal committee of the `dharam sansad' which will meet tomorrow and will be followed by a rally at the Ramlila grounds. A VHP delegation including some `sants' - Ramchandra Paramhans, Nrityagopaldas, Mahant Avaidyanath, Swami Vishwasteerath of Udipi and Swami Satyanand of Kerala - are to meet Mr. Vajpayee around noon immediately after the meeting.
A three-hour meeting of the Mandir Nirman Samiti was held here this afternoon and several important `sants' and senior VHP leaders attended. The VHP leader, Acharya Giriraj Kishore, said there was no question of delaying further the plans to start building the temple ``anytime after March 12 this year'' which was a decision taken at the Kumbhmela early last year. The delegation would ask Mr. Vajpayee to hand over the acquired land to the VHP-controlled trust. ``We cannot give any more time to the Government.''
The Parliamentary Affairs Minister, Pramod Mahajan, who briefed reporters later, pointed out that although the Ram temple issue was not on the NDA agenda for governance, the Prime Minister would simply be giving a hearing to the delegation of `sants'.
Although Opposition parties had alleged that the `yatra' would create tension and even communal disharmony at a time when the India-Pakistan relations were at a low and Assembly elections were on, Mr. Mahajan pointed out that the `yatra' had been peaceful. Clearly, the fears of Opposition parties were not well founded, he asserted.
Asked whether the Prime Minister had sought permission from the allied leaders to meet the VHP-led delegation tomorrow, Mr. Mahajan said the Prime Minister was always free to receive delegations and hear them out, irrespective of the fact that the issue they might want to discuss was not on the NDA agenda.
Mr. Mahajan said none of the leaders of coalition parties who met today objected to the Prime Minister receiving the VHP delegation. The question of any solution to the Ayodhya tangle being discussed did not arise at all.
In fact, Mr. Mahajan insisted that the Government did not know what the delegation wanted, although the `chetavani yatra' (a `yatra' to give a warning) had made its intention and demands clear.
The INLD chief and Haryana Chief Minister, Om Prakash Chautala, who attended the meeting, distanced himself from the ongoing `yatra'. He told reporters earlier that no party should include the temple issue in its election manifesto.
Others who attended the two-hour meeting at the Prime Minister's residence included Sharad Yadav (JD-U), Ramvilas Paswan (LJS), Omar Abdullah (NC), Vaiko (MDMK), Mamata Banerjee (Trinamool Congress), besides the NDA convener, George Fernandes, (Samata). The Home Minister, L.K. Advani, and the External Affairs Minister, Jaswant Singh, were also present.
The NDA leaders were also briefed about the U.S. visits of Mr. Advani and Mr. Fernandes while Jaswant Singh spoke about the latest situation.
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