BJP leadership says no regret on Ayodhya

New Delhi, Nov. 23: A day after the leader of the Opposition, Mr L.K. Advani, said that the BJP was not against the minority community, the Liberhan Commission report to be tabled in Parliament reportedly indicted the outfit and its top leaders for the demolition of the Babri Masjid.

However, an unrepentant BJP made it clear that the party has “no regret about the Ayodhya movement”.

Desperately clinging to its aggressive Hindutva card, Mr Advani declared that though he was “distressed over the demolition of structure, as far as the movement is concerned, it was my mission and would work towards it all my life”.

The contents of the report could now possibly hurt the BJP’s attempt to break out of its Hindutva image. With its back to the wall, the party would now go full steam ahead and try return to it core ideology.

Party strategists have decided to go on the offensive and intend to disrupt the proceedings till the government tables the report. The final decision will, however, be taken on Tuesday.

The BJP was also contemplating moving a privilege motion against the home minister.

What rattled the outfit was the alleged indictment of its tallest leader and former prime minister, Mr Atal Behari Vajpayee. The former PM, called the party’s moderate face, was often described as the “ right man in the wrong party”.

The deputy leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, Ms Sushma Swaraj, said the party was “shocked and surprised” at the mention of the veteran leader in the report. She said the BJP leaders had met Mr Vajpayee on Monday morning and informed him that they would be demanding tabling of the report in Parliament.

The BJP claimed the UPA government has no intention of tabling the full report as “it indicts the then Congress government of P.V. Narasimha Rao”. The BJP claimed there were only two copies of the report — one with Justice Liberhan and the other with the MHA “under lock and key”.

The findings of the report could come as the breather for Mr Advani has been looking for. Immediately after Parliament plunged into chaos, he indicated that he was going to face it and take it up as a “challenge”.

Party sources said this meant he would like to “hang on to his post as long as he can and would make it difficult for the RSS to ask him relinquish the post.