NEW DELHI, 23 February — Buoyed by exit poll results predicting a sweeping victory for Congress in Punjab and a dismal performance by Bharatiya Janata Party in Uttar Pradesh, the Congress has begun moves to confront the BJP at the center.
The Congress leader Sonia Gandhi who is also the leader of the opposition in the Lok Sabha has taken the first major move by picking up the controversial Ayodhya issue. Concerned by Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s plans to begin the work on constructing the Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya on March 15, Sonia has asked Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to call an all-party meeting on the issue. In a letter to him, she said yesterday: “I’m sure you’re aware of the developments taking place in Ayodhya and you must also be aware of the anxiety of all secular forces in the country on this issue. The plans being announced by the VHP are adding to this concern. It would be in the fitness of things that you kindly convene an all-party meeting at the earliest and consolidate the opinions of all sane elements. There seems to be convergence of opinion across the political spectrum in the country that the Ayodhya issue must be left to the courts to give a final verdict.”
With respect to UP, while the Congress is yet to reveal its hand, senior party leaders have hinted at the possibility of their aligning with the Samajwadi Party. When questioned about his party’s plans, senior Congress leader Oscar Fernandes said: “We have to keep BJP out of power.”
The Congress has already laid out the issues on which it is gong to confront the BJP-led government during the budget session of the Parliament commencing on Monday. Leader of the Opposition in Rajya Sabha Manmohan Singh told reporters yesterday: “The issues of national security and the way government is handling it, and the way terrorism and national security are being made an election issue, will be raised in the budget session.”
Speaking on the sidelines of a conference on election finance, Singh said: “The CAG report on financing of Kargil war materials and the way government is handling the issue, will be raised. I think, the way defense minister openly abused the Comptroller General of Accounts, all these issues will also be raised in the next session.”
Prime Minister Vajpayee will have to gear up to face attacks from the opposition on dismal performance of the economy too. Singh said: “Collapse of the economy, collapse of industrial production, growing unemployment, distress among farmers are vital issues, which will be debated in Parliament.”
AFP adds: A fringe Indian Muslim organization vowed yesterday to rebuild a 16th century mosque whose demolition by Hindu zealots nine years ago sparked communal riots that claimed around 2,000 lives.
Mohammed Younus Siddiqui, president of the All Indian Babri Masjid Re-Building Committee (AIBMRC), said a rally beginning in New Delhi on March 10 would culminate in the northern town of Ayodhya, where the mosque was razed on Dec. 6, 1992.
“There we will begin the reconstruction of the Babri mosque,” said Siddiqui, saying such a move was necessary to protect the religious freedoms guaranteed by India’s constituition.
The Babri Mosque was demolished at the end of a long campaign led by India’s now ruling BJP party and its ally, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP).
