Fotedar says he sought Rao's resignation for Babri demolition

New Delhi, Apr 27 (UNI) Former Union Minister and confidant of Nehru Family Makhan Lal Fotedar has revealed that he had demanded the then Prime Minister Narasimha Rao's resignation for the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992.

Holding both the BJP and Mr Rao equally responsible for the demolition, he said in an interview to the Hindi weekly "outlook" that he had made this demand at the Cabinet meeting held at the Prime Minister's residence on December 6 evening after the incident.

He however did not get any support from other Congress leaders present at the meeting.

Referring to Mr Rao's new book on the Babri Masjid episode, Mr Fotedar said that the then Prime Minister had made no effort to save the Babri Masjid from demolition despite the fact that he had got all the information about the designs of the mob.

He said that in the cabinet meeting on December 4, 1992, he had asked the present Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to keep quiet when he supported Mr Rao's statement on Ayodhya situation. Mr Fotedar made this revelation in an interview published in the latest edition of Hindi Outlook weekly.

Mr Fotedar said that in July 1992 he got to know that BJP and VHP cadre were determined to do ''something''in Ayodhya which he had passed on to Mr Rao immediately.

In November 18, 1992, meeting also he had informed the Prime Minister that the BJP and VHP workers were planning to demolish the mosque on December 6 and urged him to dismiss the Uttar Pradesh government and keep the state assembly in suspended animation.

Again on November 23 the National Integration council met and gave full freedom to Mr Rao to take any decision in the matter. On November 28, the Cabinet Committee on Political Affairs also decided to dismiss the Kalyan Singh government in UP. Yet Mr Rao did not initiate any steps to protect the mosque, Mr Fotedar asserted.

The Congress leader said that on December 6 by noon, the government had received information that two tombs of the Mosque had been demolished and ten minutes later it was informed that the third tomb had also been brought down. Mr Fotedar said that he passed on this information to Mr Rao and urged him to make national broadcast on Radio and TV about the dismissal of the Kalyan Singh Government and order Air Force to use its helicopter for teargas shelling to disperse the mob.

"Yet Mr Rao did nothing," he said.

Mr Fotedar said he then went to meet the then President Shankar Dayal Sharma in the Rashtrapati Bhawan and "I found him in tears" over the incident. By then the President had also received the information about Mr Kalyan Singh's resignation.

From Rashtrapati Bhawan, he came straight to the Prime Minister's residence to attend the Cabinet meeting and it was surprising that none in the meeting was aware of Kalyan's resignation."I got very angry and told Mr Rao you have not done anything to protect the Mosque and you cannot escape the responsibility," Mr Fotedar said.

He said he had even gone to the extent of demanding Mr Rao's resignation but in the Congress none stood by him.

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