By IANS,
Guwahati: Prime Minister Manmohan Singh Sunday rejected Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) supremo Lalu Prasad’s charge that the Congress too was to blame for Babri Masjid, saying the party “can’t be blamed” for the 1992 mosque demolition.
“We can’t be blamed,” the prime minister told a press conference in Amin Gaon in Guwahati ahead of addressing a poll rally.
He also said that the then Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) chief minister of Uttar Pradesh Kalyan Singh “did what he did” despite his affidavit to the apex court that he will protect the 16th century disputed structure.
“The BJP chief minister Kalyan Singh had then assured the Supreme Court that Babri Masjid would be safe, and the Congress had every reason to believe him,” Manmohan Singh said.
Lalu Prasad, the railways minister, had said in Bihar that the Congress was also to blame for the demolition as it did nothing to prevent it, despite being in power at the centre then.
Manmohan Singh also signalled an end to his slugfest with BJP’s prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani who has repeatedly called him a “weak prime minister”, saying: “I don’t want to prolong the match and the dialogue.”