Author: Our Special Correspondent
Publication: The Hindu
Date: September 22, 2002
The Vice-President, Bhairon Singh
Shekhawat, has claimed that the former Prime Minister, Chandra Shekhar,
during his tenure had come close to solving the Ayodhya dispute, but for
the Congress `unfortunate action of withdrawing support to him in 1990.
Speaking at a function here today
on Mr. Shekhars 75th birthday, Mr. Shekhawat delivered a political speech,
virtually accusing the Congress for the impasse over the Ayodhya dispute.
He eulogised Mr. Shekhar for his
`plain-speaking and tough decisions and narrated the moves he had initiated
for solving the problem. Mr. Shekhawat, who was the Rajasthan Chief Minister
then, was present at the meeting Mr. Shekhar was having with the members
of the Babri Masjid Action Committee (BMAC).
Mr. Shekhar had made it clear that
he was not for the demolition of the mosque and that he was against the
agitation that the BMAC had planned. He gave a similar message to the Vishwa
Hindu Parishad and stressed that there was only one way to solve the problem
- the two sides should sit together and find a solution.
According to Mr. Shehkawat, the
committee that had been formed was almost on the verge of a arriving at
a solution within two or three days. The members of the BMAC and the VHP
were to have shared lunch and there appeared to have been no ill-feeling
among them. But the Congress withdrew support to Mr. Shekhars Government.
"If that had not happened, the communal tension that prevails today might
not be in existence," Mr. Shekhawat said.
