No clean chit to Kalyan on Babri issue, says SP

Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party of raking up the Ayodhya issue in a bid to gain political mileage, the Samajwadi Party on Wednesday claimed that it had never given a clean chit to former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on the Babri Masjid demolition issue and blamed the Congress for being 'equally responsible' for it.

"The SP never gave a clean chit to Kalyan on the Babri Mosque demolition. But the fact is that the Congress is equally responsible for the mishap, as its government was at the Centre when the Babri mosque was demolished," Singh said.

"There is no need to give a clarification. Kalyan had already taken moral responsibility of the demolition. He has had a change of heart and has vowed to keep the BJP at bay. We welcome his decision," he said.

Singh said that Kalyan has extended unconditional support to the SP in its tirade against communal forces.

"Kalyan had joined Mulayam Singh to defeat fundamentalist forces. What is the problem in this? I will advise Advaniji to follow the same path," he said.

He accused the opposition parties of raking up the Ayodhya issue for political gains.   "The Congress vowed to re-construct the temple. The BJP said that it will construct a temple, but what they have done so? The Congress is still in power, why is it not constructing the mosque," he asked.

Singh said that Mulayam Singh had also advocated an amicable solution or a settlement by the court.

On the Congress' plan to field actor Govinda from Lucknow against Sanjay Dutt, he stated that there is enough brotherhood in the film industry and actors will never contest against each other.

"Even Sunil Duttji, who was a dedicated worker of the Congress, once refused to campaign against Jaya Prada," he claimed.

Rubbishing reports of Sanjay Dutt's inclination towards the BJP, he said that the actor has only expressed his respect for Atal Bihari Vajpayee.

"Sanjay respects Vajpayee because of his seniority in politics. For him Atalji is like a father, but that does not mean he is inclined towards BJP," he added.