The Hindu : National : Bihar satraps rake up Babri issue to keep Congress at bay

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Bihar satraps rake up Babri issue to keep Congress at bay

K. Balchand

PATNA: The troika in the Bihar political spectrum has all of a sudden buried its differences and assailed the Congress for its alleged role in the demolition of the Babri Masjid, in an apparent bid to thwart its re-emergence in the State.

No sooner Rashtriya Janata Dal chief Lalu Prasad raked up the issue than his ally, Lok Jan Shakti Party chief Ram Vilas Paswan, picked up the threads and attacked the Congress.

Their rival and senior Janata Dal (United) leader Nitish Kumar too joined the chorus.

Mr. Prasad said the Congress could have saved the mosque but did not take any action in that direction, while Mr. Paswan pointed out how the V.P. Singh government earlier thwarted the BJP’s demolition bid, with Mr. Prasad, as Chief Minister, getting L.K. Advani arrested in Bihar.

Mr. Kumar focussed on how the masjid gates were opened and the exercise to lay the foundation stone for a Ram temple was permitted during the Congress regime.

Congress flayed

Mr. Prasad assailed the Congress before a Muslim-dominated crowd in Darbhanga, but that was preceded by an attack on the BJP’s Pilibhit candidate, Varun Gandhi, in Kishanganj, another Muslim dominated constituency, for which he had to incur the wrath of the Election Commission.

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