Govt in no hurry to table report

NEW DELHI: The Congress, it appears, is not keen to provide an opportunity to parties to stoke the Ayodhya issue. On a day, BJP���s rivals sought the tabling of the Liberhan report in Parliament, the Congress tried to divert attention, exhorting political parties to rise above partisan concerns and concentrate on immediate priorities such as ���providing constructive suggestions to fight economic recession.���

On its part, the government leadership has made it clear that the timetable for tabling the Liberhan report cannot be dictated by political parties. Finance minister Pranab Mukherjee told an all-party meeting convened by Speaker Meira Kumar that it cannot be tabled without an ATR. Later in the day, home minister P Chidambaram told reporters that he was yet to study the report. All these clearly suggested that the government is in no hurry to take the next step.

The Congress was in complete agreement with the stand of the government. ���We need to give the government time to peruse the report. Let us not constrain the flexibility of the government to put a road map in place.This government has received the mandate of the people and it will do whatever is necessary and best,��� party spokesperson Manish Tewari said.

It was apparent that the Congress is apprehensive of the political cost of tabling the report in Parliament. Responding to apprehensions that the Liberhan Commission report could well meet a fate similar to the Sri Krishna Commission report on the Mumbai riots, Mr Tewari said it is an issue of debate whether it is mandatory for the government to implement it or not. ���But we expect government to act if a commission has given recommendations to it,��� he said.

Unwilling to commit to former prime minister P V Narasimha Rao���s pledge to ���rebuild the Babri Masjid���, the party spokesperson said that ���pledge��� and the Liberhan Commission were different issues. ���The matter is subjudice,��� the spokesman said. However, the party said that if there was a ���national consensus��� on the issue, it would support it. ���The matter is subjudice...If there is a national consensus, we will go by it. I do not mean a consensus that is predicated with rebuild or relocate. There can not be a consensus with a predetermined end,��� Mr Tewari said.
There appears to be no timeline to this consensus, as the spokesperson said, ���in the life of a nation, there are moments...let us wait.���