M A I N   N E W S

VP to appear before Ayodhya panel
Babri stir for votes: Advani

Varanasi, June 14
Former Prime Minister V.P. Singh today expressed his willingness to depose again before the Liberhan Commission to put on record his account of the events leading to the demolition of Babri Masjid at Ayodhya in 1992.

“It is time to tell the real story. All kind of statements are being issued by different people about my role,’’ Mr V.P. Singh said at a meet the Press programme here.

The former Prime Minister was apparently concerned over the versions presented before the commission by Union Ministers L.K. Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi.

He said the commission had been informed through his lawyers about his intention to depose before it on a convenient date.

Earlier, Mr V.P. Singh justified his government’s decision to withdraw an ordinance to acquire the land around the disputed structure as parties to the dispute had raised objections to it.

“It was a correct decision. The parties to the dispute — the VHP and the Babri Masjid Action Committee had opposed the ordinance, making it useless. There was also a possibility of the court rejecting the move,” he said. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Rajendra Singh had said the land acquisition was aimed at constructing the masjid at the site, he added.

He said if the ordinance was a solution to the Ayodhya dispute successive governments were free to invoke it. Why did the Vajpayee government hesitate to issue an ordinance, he asked.

Even the Supreme Court refused to intervene in the matter when the Narasimha Rao government sought the court’s opinion on the nature of the Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid site, he pointed out.

The Union Home Minister Mr L.K. Advani today said that the BJP had joined the Ayodhya movement in 1989 to fight vote bank politics after the Rajiv Gandhi government had succumbed to pressure from the minorities to negate the Supreme Court ruling in the Shah Bano case.

Deposing before the Liberhan Commission of Inquiry probing the events leading to the demolition of the disputed structure in December 1992, Mr Advani said “The turning point came in 1985 when the Supreme Court judgement was sought to be negated by a legislative act”.

Mr Advani indicated that while the Muslim Law was amended to appeal to the community’s vote bank, opening of the temple gate at Ayodhya was meant to appeal to the Hindu vote bank and said “these decisions were not on the merits of the cases”. PTI, UNI

MLA beats up SP with chappals
Santosh Jha

Patna, June 14
The Superintendent of Police (SP) Gaya, Mr Raveendran Shankaran was faced with a nightmare coming alive on Wednesday when the RJD legislator of Barachhati, Mrs Bhagwatia Devi beat him with her chappals and reportedly abused him. The SP has admitted the veracity of the incident. Other reports maintain the SP was rather hit by the “chappal” by the time his security guards could intervene. The legislator complained that the guards of the SP had manhandled her son and daughter-in-law when they expressed their desire to meet the SP. The legislator and her men later staged a ‘dharna’ in front of the SP’s residence. The District Magistrate rushed to the spot to save the day.

The legislator and the SP have their different versions about the incidents. The matter has been referred to the Chief Minister and RJD chief Laloo Prasad Yadav. The CM has reportedly asked the legislator to report the matter formally to her. The probe is on.

Had it been the case with only the RJD legislators, it would have been easy to brand the phenomena as ego problems but the bureaucracy-legislator clashes are not confined only to the ruling party. The BJP legislator from Bettiah, Mrs Renu Devi, has opened a battlefront against the Vaishali SP, Ms Shobha Ahotkar. On Wednesday the BJP MLA said that the Vaishali SP abused her and stopped her in performing her duties as an elected member of the Assembly. The MLA has moved a privilege notice against the SP and has informed the Speaker of the House and the Governor about it.

The state BJP has in the meantime said the said SP had lost her mental balance and required medical examination. The BJP MLA in her memorandum to the Governor maintained that she had taken a prior appointment with the SP to enquire about the fate of an army man’s kidnapped son but when the SP did not arrive for the meeting she went to her official residence. On seeing her at her official residence the SP lost her cool and started abusing the MLA. The memorandum says the SP rushed towards the MLA saying “behuddi, yeh vidhayak sale apne apko samajhte kya hein. Tum bhago yahan se.”

Earlier too such instances have taken place where the elected representatives have complained of the unceremonious behavior on the part of the permanent Executive. It is to be noted that on April 15, 1999 the then Chief Secretary of Bihar Mr V S Dubey had directed all the officials to be courteous to the elected representatives. Violent reaction is a common phenomenon in Bihar.