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Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee is confident of finding an early solution to the vexed Ayodhya Ram temple issue.
"I am sure the Ayodhya problem would get resolved latest by March 2002," Vajpayee told a crowded press conference in Lucknow (Uttar Pradesh) on Sunday evening.
He was in Lucknow for the annual All India Radio awards function.
"Negotiations are going on at various levels and in various forms. I have sufficient reason to believe that these measures will bear fruit by March," the prime minister explained.
He, however, declined to elaborate on the nature of the negotiations or the parties involved in the parleys.
He refused to comment on the much-touted suggestion of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad to facilitate construction of the Ram temple through legislation.
The prime minister skirted a direct answer to a pointed query about the role of 'madarsas' in allegedly spreading religious bigotry in India.
"Madarsas played a commendable role in the freedom movement, but in today's world, there is need for them to have a broader outlook and to include modern education in their curriculum," Vajpayee pointed out.
He refuted the charge that the Bharatiya Janata Party-led government at the Centre was interpolating the syllabi in educational institutions with the party's ideology.
"Human Resource Development Minister M M Joshi has been confronted with this allegation in Parliament, but no opposition leader could specify one case of this alleged 'saffronisation' of education" the prime minister pointed out.
"Apparently, the aim is to defame the BJP," he added.
Defending the state of economy, Vajpayee said, "It is true we are going through some difficulties, but it is not as if there is total darkness on all sides. Steps are being taken to ensure the desired improvements."
"We have abundant food reserves, sufficient foreign capital and our new commerce policy had already begun to give the much-needed impetus to Indian industry," he explained.
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