New Delhi: The Congress on Tuesday demanded the resignation of Union minister Uma Bharti, who has been charged with criminal conspiracy by a special CBI court in Lucknow in the Babri Masjid demolition case, and asked the prime minister to uphold the law and the Constitution.
The Congress also hoped that 25 years after the demolition of the structure, justice will be done and the guilty would be punished in accordance with the law of the land.
“One of the accused, Uma Bharti is a Union Cabinet minister. Having been chargesheeted, she must resign. Prime Minister must come forward and uphold the rule of law and the Constitution,” AICC incharge of communications Randeep Surjewala said.
He said on December 8, 2011, the Supreme Court had ordered that hearing be held on day-to-day basis, but since 2013, 185 adjournments have taken place in the case.
“Time for law of the land to deliver justice expeditiously,” he said. The opposition party voiced hope that the trial will now begin. “Those who are guilty must be punished in accordance with the law of the land without any fear or favour,” Surjewala said.
A CBI court on Tuesday framed charges under Section 120-B (criminal conspiracy) of Indian Penal Code against BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Bharti, Murli Manohar Joshi and some others.
Arrival of the BJP veterans for the court appearance prompted the party’s Hindutva faces to raise the pitch for the construction of Ram Temple.
Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath too met Advani. BJP MP Sakshi Maharaj said “no power on earth” could stop the construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya. Another BJP leader and one of the accused in the case, Vinay Katiyar, insisted that there was no conspiracy as the mosque was razed by a big crowd in the open.
“It is not appropriate to charge a few persons with criminal conspiracy,” the one-time firebrand Hindutva leader and former UP BJP chief told media on Tuesday.
Katiyar targeted SP leader Mulayam Singh Yadav saying that a case should have been lodged against the former chief minister over the firing by police on ‘kar sewaks’ in Ayodhya in 1990.
The BJP leaders claimed he had not delivered a speech on December 6, 1992, when the 16th-century structure was demolished. He also claimed that the case had “reached” the judgement stage before the apex court gave its new ruling.
