Ayodhya issue dead, BJP using it to vitiate atmosphere: Azam Khan

Lucknow, Nov 14: Hitting out at BJP, UP minister Azam Khan on Friday said the Ayodhya issue was "almost dead" as a "temple already exits there" and alleged that the saffron party wanted to keep it alive to vitiate the atmosphere.

"After martyrdom of Babri mosque on December 6 there is a proper temple. There is a temple there. Now what do they want to construct as a temple already exists there. Only to spread hatred they want to keep alive an issue which is almost dead after demolition of the mosque. They want to vitiate the atmosphere and spread maximum hatred," Azam alleged.

The Samajwadi Party leader, who has often stoked controversy with his outbursts against BJP leaders, was reacting to Uttar Pradesh Governor Ram Naik's statement that Ayodhya issue will be resolved within five years as Prime Minister Narendra Modi is working out a plan to sort it out peacefully.

"Governor's post is above all this because it is considered that he is not a political person and does not belong to any community," Azam added. During his Ayodhya visit on last Tuesday, Naik had said, "Prime Minister Narendra Modi is preparing a plan to work out a peaceful solution for the Ayodhya dispute and it would be solved once and for all within the next five years," Naik had said.

Azam also demanded dismissal of BJP governments in Chhattisgarh, where 13 women died after botched sterilisation surgery, and Rajastan, where a woman was publicly tortured and abused. He also said that Prime Minister Narendra Modi should not have continued with his foreign tour after the Bilaspur tragedy.

"What happened in Chhattisgarh is collapse of the government. In Rajasthan, gruesome atrocities were committed against a woman. Though I use these words rarely, but both the governments must be dismissed. After two such big incidents Prime Minister must have not gone on foreign tour, he should returned home," he said.

On allegations that BJP leaders were being framed in false cases in Uttar Pradesh, Azam retorted, "They indulge in 'goondagardi' (hooliganism), create anarchy and divide the society, then what else can be done other than lodging cases."

Azam, who is embroiled in a bitter spat with Gorakhpur MP Yogi Adityanath, fired a fresh salvo, saying the BJP leader was yet to grow up "physically and mentally". He alleged that the saffron party was trying to "repeat" Gujarat in Uttar Pradesh.

"Case has not been lodged against him (Aditynath) so far because when police go to arrest him, he starts crying. He cries in jail and when released, he cries in Parliament. "To save the country from 'tear pollution' created by this, he has not been arrested so far," Azam said.

PTI