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BJP leaders meet PM over arrest of junior seer
Onkar Singh in New Delhi |
January 10, 2005 23:51 IST
Last Updated: January 11, 2005 00:33 IST
Former president of India R Venkataraman, former prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and president of the Bhartiya Janata Party L K Advani met Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday night and protested against the arrest of the junior pontiff Swami Vijayendra Sarswati in the Shankaraman murder case.
After the meeting Dr Sanjay Baru, media advisor to PM told media pesons that the prime minister had written a letter to Tamil Nadu Chief Minister Jayalalitha on this issue on January 6 and later discussed it with her when she met him during his visit to Tamil Nadu to meet the tsunami victims.
Dr Singh had told Jayalalitha that arrest of the junior pontiff might lead to disruption of the daily puja at the Kanchi Mutt in the absence of the two pontiffs.
The Shankaracharya, Swami Jayendra Sarswati, was granted bail by the Suprpeme court on Monday but was directed not to enter the mutt till the chargesheet was filed in the Sankararaman murder case.
Just hours after the bail order Tamil Nadu police arrested the junior seer.
"Our top leaders, Vajpayee and Advani, and former president R Venkatraman met Prime Minister Singh to protest against the arrest of the junior seer and pointed out that the arrest amounts to disruption of the religious activities in the mutt in the absence of the two Shankaracharyas.
BJP leaders will meet in New Delhi on Tuesday evening once Sushma Swaraj returns from Chennai, where she has gone to receive the Shankaracharya who is expected to come out on bail tomorrow (Tuesday) morning. We may move the supreme court on this issue," Vijay Kumar Malhotra, BJP's parliamentary spokesperson told rediff.com.