04-27-2007, 01:12 AM
<!--QuoteBegin-->QUOTE<!--QuoteEBegin--><b>Purohit's revelation of Rajiv-RSS pact leaves Cong dumb </b>
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Former Congress MP Banwarilal Purohit's statement about a secret pact between the Rajiv Gandhi Government and the RSS in 1989 to allow shilanyas and construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya has left Congressmen ducking for answers.
Most senior leaders refused to react to the former Congress MP's statement as they found it embarrassing in the backdrop of Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi's controversial remarks that Babri Masjid would not have been demolished had someone from the Gandhi family been at the helm of affairs in 1993.
Party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, too, sought to challenge the credibility of Purohit, instead of specifically denying the statements asserted by him. "Mr Purohit is known to change parties and he changes his version whenever he changes a party," was all Singhvi could say.
Singhvi also wondered why Purohit had kept quiet about this all these years.
In a statement to the media in Nagpur on Wednesday, Purohit had said, "As the Congress' pointsman at that time I facilitated a meeting between 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."
<b>"Deoras agreed to extend electoral support to Congress if it allowed construction of the Ram temple. Soon after that Deoras had a meeting with then Union Home Minister Buta Singh in New Delhi where the deal was endorsed," </b>claimed Purohit.
<b>Asked why he had kept mum all these years, Purohit said he would have kept it a secret but was 'provoked' by Rahul Gandhi's "fantastic claims about historical events"</b> while campaigning in UP.
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Now Madam Queen will divorce him or go for Vatican sanaan or purify her 10 Janpath Sandas with Alps snow.
Pioneer News Service | New Delhi
Former Congress MP Banwarilal Purohit's statement about a secret pact between the Rajiv Gandhi Government and the RSS in 1989 to allow shilanyas and construction of Ram temple at Ayodhya has left Congressmen ducking for answers.
Most senior leaders refused to react to the former Congress MP's statement as they found it embarrassing in the backdrop of Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi's controversial remarks that Babri Masjid would not have been demolished had someone from the Gandhi family been at the helm of affairs in 1993.
Party spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi, too, sought to challenge the credibility of Purohit, instead of specifically denying the statements asserted by him. "Mr Purohit is known to change parties and he changes his version whenever he changes a party," was all Singhvi could say.
Singhvi also wondered why Purohit had kept quiet about this all these years.
In a statement to the media in Nagpur on Wednesday, Purohit had said, "As the Congress' pointsman at that time I facilitated a meeting between 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."
<b>"Deoras agreed to extend electoral support to Congress if it allowed construction of the Ram temple. Soon after that Deoras had a meeting with then Union Home Minister Buta Singh in New Delhi where the deal was endorsed," </b>claimed Purohit.
<b>Asked why he had kept mum all these years, Purohit said he would have kept it a secret but was 'provoked' by Rahul Gandhi's "fantastic claims about historical events"</b> while campaigning in UP.
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<!--emo&
--><img src='style_emoticons/<#EMO_DIR#>/biggrin.gif' border='0' style='vertical-align:middle' alt='biggrin.gif' /><!--endemo--> Now Madam Queen will divorce him or go for Vatican sanaan or purify her 10 Janpath Sandas with Alps snow.