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<!--emo&--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/sad.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='sad.gif' /><!--endemo--> Cong ex-MP alleges secret pact between Rajiv & RSS
[26 Apr, 2007 l 0210 hrs IST]
NAGPUR: In a startling disclosure, former Congress MP Banwarilal Purohit claimed on Wednesday that the government led by the then Prime Minister late Rajiv Gandhi had forged a secret pact with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in 1989 to allow ‘shilanyas’ and construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya in exchange for RSS support to the Congress in the 1989 general elections.

‘‘As the Congress’ pointsman that time I facilitated a meeting between the then RSS chief Balasaheb Deoras and Rajiv’s special emissary Bhanu Prakash Singh. It was secret one-to-one that lasted an hour. I played an important role in the Babri Masjid issue because of my personal conviction that creation of Ram temple at Ayodhya would correct a historic blunder,’’ Purohit said. ‘‘Deoras agreed to extend electoral support to Congress if it allowed construction of the Ram temple. Soon after that Deoras had a meeting with the then Union home minister Buta Singh in New Delhi where the deal was endorsed,’’ claimed Purohit.

When contacted for comment, Buta Singh pooh-poohed Purohit’s claim. He said he couldn’t even recall who Purohit was and what the man was talking about. ‘‘I have no knowledge of the claimed meeting. But every fact about the episode has come on record. Now, people are planting stories to gain importance,’’ he told TOI. Congress appears to have been embarrassed with Purohit’s comment. Asked about the party’s reaction to its MP’s remarks, a visibly uncomfortable Congress spokesman Abhishek Singhvi said, ‘‘You have to ask the author of the comment to explain the basis of what he said.’’