Congress forcing Rahul Gandhi to lie on Babri

NEW DELHI: The Samajwadi Party, anxious to repel attempts of its rivals to poach on its minority support base, on Sunday said the Congress was forcing even Rahul Gandhi to lie on the party’s Ayodhya past. In an interview to a television channel, SP supremo Mulayam Singh Yadav said Rahul Gandhi’s statement that the demolition of the Babri mosque would not have taken place had a member of the Nehru-Gandhi family been in charge of the government was a lie. “Rahul Gandhi is a kid. Congressmen are forcing him to lie. They are destroying his personality.

The idol of Ram was installed during Jawaharlal Nehru’s time. The lock of the Babri mosque was opened during Rajiv Gandhi’s time. Rajiv Gandhi allowed shilanyas and even began his 1989 election campaign from Ayodhya. And now Congressmen are making poor Rahul lie on the Ayodhya issue,” said Mr Yadav.

The political rivals of the Congress have been using Rahul Gandhi’s statement to place the Ayodhya issue once again at the centre of political discourse. While the SP’s attempt is to tell its supporters that Congress secularism was “spurious”, the BJP has already brought back the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya as an important campaign theme.

There is more bad news for Congress leaders who have been hoping that Rahul Gandhi’s statement would help the party overcome its Ayodhya image deficit. With prime minister Manmohan Singh refusing to join the move to run down the Rao legacy, there is acknowledgement that the Rahul Gandhi project may not succeed.

Addressing a seminar here on Saturday, Mr Singh had described Rao as a moderniser who was steeped in our tradition and ethos. “He was a friend, philosopher and guide in many ways. As I saw him from close quarters, he was truly a Sanyasi in politics. He was a rare scholar, statesman who gave a new sense of direction not only to our economic but also foreign policies,” he had said.