Vishwa Hindu Parishad international working president Ashok Singhal on Saturday said Deputy Prime minister Lal Kishenchand Advani's rathyatra had damaged the cause of Hindutva by politicising the issue.
Briefing reporters on the deliberations of the crucial VHP meet in Pune, Singhal said "Advaniji ki rathyatra se hame nuksan hua [The rathyatra of Advani damaged our cause]," adding, "Rathyatra se hamara Ram Janambhoomi andolan ek paksha ka ban gaya [The rathyatra made our Ram Janambhoomi agitation a one party affair]."
He said before the yatra, people from different parties used to come to their platform. "But others stopped coming after the yatra as the Ram Janambhoomi issue got unnecessarily politicised", he added.
He, however, refused to name any parties saying, "Naam lena uchit nahi hoga [It may not be proper to name]," and hinted that people from the Congress also used to visit their platform.
Talking about the landslide victory of the Bharatiya Janata Party in Gujarat, Singhal said it was not the victory of any political party but the victory of Hindutva.
Singhal also said VHP would not hesitate to have a confrontation with the Vajpayee government on the issue of construction of Ram Temple in Ayodhya.
Replying to a question on how the BJP could support VHP's demand when its other National Democratic Alliance allies would not support them, Singhal said, "We are committed to Hindutva and not to any party. Hence, we will not think twice about confronting the government on this issue."
Singhal said the VHP on Saturday passed a resolution demanding that the Central government hand over the Ram Janambhoomi site to the Sri Ram Janambhoomi Trust constitutionally, and respect the sentiments of the Hindus.
It should be handed over to them before the commencement of the Dharam Sansad of the VHP, which would take place from February 22 to 25 in Delhi, failing which the organisation would not hesitate to confront the Centre.
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