Kalyan Singh said he very much wanted to prevent the razing of the Babri Masjid, but stopped short of apologising for failing to do so.
Over 16 years after Babri Masjid was demolished, former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on Friday said he very much wanted to prevent the razing of the
16th century mosque, but stopped short of apologising for failing to do so.
"No chief minister wants an incident like Babri Masjid demolition to happen nor did I", Singh, who was heading the BJP government in Uttar Pradesh in 1992, said.
Singh has since quit BJP and is now contesting the Lok Sabha elections from Etah as an independent candidate with the Samajwadi Party's support. Taking "moral responsibility" for demolition of the Mughal monument, he said his former party was "lying" about building the Ram temple if elected.
The mosque was demolished by Hindu fanatics who believed that prior to 1528, there existed a temple to Lord Ram at the very site.
"We had taken all measures to ensure its security. But there were three lakh people and I had given strict orders to security men not to open fire on people.
"I strictly told them to only use lathis and tear gas if need arises. Had they fired on a crowd of three lakh people, many would have died in stampede. This incident could have resulted repercussion across the country."
Attacking the BJP over its manifesto promise to build a Ram Temple, Singh said: "BJP is still lying about the Ram Temple issue and has come out with a duplicate manifesto.
"It has decided to build Ram Mandir in Ayodhya, abolish Article 370 and introduce of common civil code. (BJP's ally) Nitish Kumar has already refused to accept all these issues listed in the manifesto."
He said the agenda for Lok Sabha polls will be decided by National Democratic Alliance (NDA) "and if that happens, all three issues will not come in it. Who are they trying to deceive."
BJP has very cleverly said it will fulfil all those three promises if voted to power, he said, adding that "they are not going to get majority in their lifetime."
77-year-old leader, who is recuperating from a fractured ankle and is bed-ridden, is managing all poll-related activities over the mobile phone. He is being helped by his son, Rajveer Singh who has officially joined the SP.
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