Political parties welcome Ayodhya verdict

NEW DELHI: Political parties today welcomed the Allahabad High Court verdict on the Ayodhya title suits with the BJP, which spearheaded the Ramjanmabhumi movement, terming it as a "positive" development while Congress said no one should treat it as a victory or defeat.

BJP spokesperson Prakash Javedekar said the judgement was a "positive" development. The BJP top brass met in the evening to decide on the future course of action on the issue.

Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, a known Hindutva hardliner, said the road for the construction of a magnificent Ram temple at Ayodhya has been paved. He, however, maintained at the same time that there was "no room for frenzy".

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also welcomed the judgement and said the order should not be seen as anybody's victory or defeat. "The movement for Ram temple is not a reactionary one, nor is it against any particular community," he said.

Hailing the judgment, Congress General Secretary Janardhan Dwivedi said his party has held that the controversy should either be solved through talks or the verdict of the court should be accepted.

"The court has given the verdict. We should all welcome the judgement," Dwivedi told reporters.

BSP Supremo and UP Chief Minister Mayawati threw the ball in the Centre's court over the implementation of the verdict as well ensuring peace and harmony in the state alleging that it had not provided enough paramilitary forces for security.

CPI(M), however, reacted cautiously saying the judgement required to be fully studied as there may be questions on the nature of the verdict and maintained that recourse to Supreme Court should be the only way to resolve the matter.

"This judgement requires to be fully studied. There may be questions on the nature of the verdict," the CPI(M) Polit Bureau said in a statement.