'Advani did address the Ayodhya meeting on demolition day' : Uma

New Delhi, July 29 (UNI) Adding to the discomfort of senior BJP leader L K Advani, his one time confidant and Bharatiya Janashakti leader Uma Bharti today said that he did address a meeting on the day when Babri Masjid was demolished and she was sitting on the days with him.

Reacting to the revelations made by former policeman turned BJP MP D B Rai in his book 'Ayodhya Ka Sach', Ms Bharti, who was actively associated with the Mandir movement, asserted that Mr Advani did speak at the meeting but would probably not remember the contents.

"However, I fail to understand why Mr Advani told the Liberhan Commission that he did not address the meeting on December 6", she said.

Ms Bharti, also a former 9 Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister, said that she had admitted about attending the meeting before the Commission. Asked if she had told the Commission about Mr Advani addressing the meeting, she said it was all part of the record but could not remember if she had brought out this aspect in her deposition.

Mr Rai, the Senior Superintendent of Police, Faizabad when the demolition took place and later a Rajya Sabha member from the BJP, Mr Advani delivered a speech on the fateful day in Ayodhya, which caused the Congress to accuse the Leader of Opposition of commiting 'perjury' because he had filed a sworn affidavit before the Commission claiming that he had not spoken on that day.

UNI MCN VD PC1559