Shot in the arm for BJP in UP

The Liberhan Commission report is sure to provide a much-needed shot in the arm to the BJP in Uttar Pradesh (UP). Election after election, the party has suffered heavy losses, and has now been relegated to the fourth place, after the ruling BSP, Congress and the Samajwadi Party (SP), in the state.

The first signs of the BJP smelling an opportunity in the indictment of its leaders in the Babri Masjid demolition case came from Vinay Katiyar, one of the leaders of the Ram Janmabhoomi movement. “The day the mosque fell was the happiest day of my life”, is what he is reported to have said.

Even LK Advani did not show remorse in parliament on Monday. The signs are clear and the signals are already being picked up by the state leadership. “We are as committed to building a grand Ram temple in Ayodhya today as we were when the movement started more than 20 years ago,” senior leader Kalraj Mishra said. However, he contested the panel’s findings that the demolition was planned. “No one could have planned such an act… there were lakhs of kar sevaks [in Ayodhya] that day… they were not under any
line of command,” he reasoned.