Please don't preach on Ayodhya, BJP tells Congress

Lashing out at the Congress for raising the Babri Masjid demolition issue 'again and again', the Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said the law is taking its course in the matter and advised the ruling party against giving 'edifications'.

"It has been said several times that a procedure is separately going on for December 6 (the day of Babri Mosque demolition). This is a legal action," BJP's chief spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad said.

"But raising of this issue (by the Congress) again and again is unfortunate. The country knows well about the attitude of the Congress in this matter. So, it will be better if they (Congress) do not give edifications," he said when asked to comment on the Congress' statement on the demolition issue.

Hitting out at the Congress, BJP national spokesperson Nirmala Sitharaman told reporters at the party briefing, "At this stage, it is a high court verdict which has come on a bunch of civil suits based on certain issues. And, to that extent, we respect what has come in the judgment. At this stage, to time and again link it with the demolition of the Babri Masjid, I don't think there is any need".

Seeking to turn the tables on the ruling party, Prasad said those parties which are raising the Babri Mosque demolition issue should first answer the question of who had got the locks opened at the disputed site in Ayodhya, in a reference to the Rajiv Gandhi government which had allowed the opening of the locks in February 1986.

"I am not willing to speak on any political issue. But the Congress should first answer who  had got the locks opened. Those talking about December 6 should answer this question first," he demanded.

Prasad alleged that the then Narsimha Rao-led Congress government had attempted to 'implicate' those booked in the Babri demolition case, including senior BJP leader L K Advani and other leaders of the party.

"We are facing this trial. Our lawyers go there. A decision will be taken (by the court)," he added.