'Congress would have prevented Babri demolition'

Khautauli (Meerut), Mar 19: Amethi MP Rahul Gandhi today claimed that if the Congress was in power in Uttar Pradesh, the December 6, 1992 Ayodhya demolition would not have taken place.

Talking to media over lunch here minutes before leaving for Muzaffarnagar on the second day of his whistle-stop tour of Western UP to campaign for the Assembly elections, Mr Gandhi said, ''My father (Late Rajiv Gandhi) had told my mother, (Congress President Sonia Gandhi) that he would have stood in front of the Babri Masjid to stop the demolition.

''Late Rajiv Gandhi had told Ms Gandhi, 'They would have had to kill me before razing the structure','' Rahul said.

UNI