Cong, BJP in war of words ahead of verdict

NEW DELHI: Ahead of the Supreme Court’s decision on the deferment of Ramjanmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title suit verdict, Congress and BJP entered into a war of words with the latter charging Congress and UPA government for reopening the question of an out-of-court settlement.

Congress, on the other hand, refused to take a stand on whether it was in favour of a deferment of Allahabad high court verdict. The party, instead, lashed out at BJP. Congress spokesman Abhishek Manu Singhvi said: “BJP is habituated about politicising and sensationalising everything. Do they realise that when they allege that Congress party is engineering such a deferment, they are, in fact, directly attacking judges of the Supreme Court and attributing motives to them. This is extremely irresponsible but true to the established history and conduct of BJP.”

Congress reacted sharply to BJP chief spokesman Ravi Shankar Prasad’s remarks that it wanted a deferment of the verdict. “Whose lawyer is Mukul Rohtagi? Doesn’t he represent Mr Narendra Modi,” asked Congress general secretary in-charge of Uttar Pradesh Digvijaya Singh.

Mr Singh has been facing Opposition’s allegations that he is funding Mr Ramesh Chandra Tripathi, one of the defendants in the title suit whose appeal for deferment is being addressed by Supreme Court. Mr Tripathi is being represented in the apex court by Mr Rohtagi and has been arguing that there should be one last attempt at settling the issue through dialogue. Rajya Sabha MP Rashid Alvi also termed BJP leader’s remarks as “a contempt of court”.

Even as most parties involved in the Ayodhya title suit are hoping to have a verdict one way or the other, Congress has refused to spell out its stand.

A senior Congress leader said: “It won’t be appropriate for us to form a view one way or the other. This is the court’s prerogative.”