Congress not to apologise over Babri demolition
Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
The Congress party will not apologise to the Muslims for
the destruction of the Babri mosque in Ayodhya, but will only accept responsibility for it because it occurred during the prime ministership of
P V Narasimha Rao, according to a senior party leader who belongs
to the minority community.
This leader, who spoke to Rediff On The Net on the condition of anonymity, said the party leadership came to the conclusion after much discussion.
Adopting the stand, Congress president Sitaram Kesri's camp has
craftily thrown the ball in Rao's court.
It is understood that Kesri recently told his senior colleagues that the Congress apology, coming after five years, might be misconstrued by most of the Muslims who remain aggrieved over the destruction.
Kesri is understood to have persuaded his senior party
colleagues that it would be better to own up responsibility and simultaneously announce a welfare package for the minority communities in the party manifesto.
Significantly, recent media reports had suggested that the Congress
leadership was gearing up to tender an apology over the Babri mosque
issue in order to woo the Muslims voters.
This decision by the Kesri camp tantamounts to killing two
birds with one stone. First, he has struck back at Narasimha Rao whom he has not yet included in the list of party candidates who could fight the impending general poll. Second, the welfare package seeks to recapture a large chunk of the Muslim votes.
It is learnt that the Muslim leaders in the Congress have
veered around to the view that the party's game plan is better
than apologising to the Muslims at this late
juncture.
Significantly, senior Congress leaders Pranab Mukherjee,
Jitendra Prasada and Ghulam Nabi Azad were today seen entering
10 Janpath -- Sonia Gandhi's official residence -- half an hour
before the commencement of this evening's party central election
committee meeting.
It is learnt that these leaders were meeting
Sonia to appraise her of the main contents of the party manifesto,
apart from other issues like why certain persons had been omitted
from the Congress list of candidates contesting the election.
Party spokesman V N Gadgil on Monday contended that the party manifesto was likely to be released by Friday.
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