A war of words has erupted between the BJP and Congress over a sting operation purportedly claiming that the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition was an “act of planned sabotage” and not by a frenzied mob of Hindu outfits.
The web news portal Cobrapost carried out the sting on the pretext of interviewing 23 leaders who were allegedly in the forefront of the demolition. The “confessions” named BJP senior leaders lK Advani, Murli Manohar Joshi, Uma Bharti and others for “secretly planning” out the demolition in an elaborate way. It also allegedly found that then Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh and former Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao were also allegedly aware of the plan.
The BJP termed the Cobrapost report as Congress post. It said it was an attempt to divert public attention from the core issues and to influence the pending cases. “Cobrapost is a Congress post and its report is sponsored by the Congress,” said BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad. He asked why Cobrapost has not done a single sting against 2G scam, Commonwealth Scam, and Augusta helicopter scamIJ Prasad said the report was a contempt of the court.
The Congress said the sting operation exposed the true face of BJP and RSS which can go to “any extent” to further their political interests with Narendra Modi leading the pack. launching a scathing attack on BJP and the Sangh Parivar, Congress said a party which claims to be nationalist tried to damage the secular fabric of the country in the name of religion.
“They have no concern for unity and integrity of the country. To further their political interest they can go to any interest. like Naxals, they had set up a training camp in Gujarat to train people in demolishing buildings. They had provided dynamite and petrol bombs. They had kept the nation at stake for the sake of power... Modi is the leader of the pack,” Congress spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said at AICC briefing.
On former PM PV Narasimha Rao being aware that the mosque will be demolished, Congress said the then UP CM Kalyan Singh had filed an affidavit before the Supreme Court that it was his constitutional duty to protect the mosque. “The affidavit proved that he (Singh) cheated the Supreme Court,” he said.
The AAP said that the sting confirmed the role of BJP and Sangh Parivar in Babri demolition. “After 1992, the successive Congress-led and BJP-led governments for obvious reasons have attempted to brush the whole conspiracy under the carpet”, AAP said in a statement. AAP also attacked the Congress for allegedly helping the Sangh Parivar in the act.
The CBI said the sting operation has no evidentiary value for CBI as it has already completed the investigation. CBI sources said investigation in the cases has been completed after collecting all the legally tenable evidence based on which the cases are at trial stage.