‘Kalyan not responsible for Babri’

Reflecting the new-found camaraderie with former rival Kalyan Singh, SP chief Mulayam Singh Yadav defended him in the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition, claiming that he “did not” do it.

Reflecting the new-found camaraderie with former rival Kalyan Singh, Samajwadi Party chief Mulayam Singh Yadav on Sunday defended him in the 1992 Babri Mosque demolition, claiming that he “did not” do it and that the former BJP leader could not be called an “extremist now”.

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“He (Kalyan) did not do that. Mosque was demolished by Shiv Sena and RSS,” Mulayam said in an interview to IBN7.

The statement assumes significance as Mulayam and his party has attacked Kalyan, the then UP chief minister, for the demolition.

The change of tune vis-a-vis Kalyan, a prime accused in the demolition case, comes after the former BJP vice-president came closer to the SP recently.

At the same time, the SP leader said he “realises and admits” that the fall of the mosque was Kalyan’s “moral” responsibility as the then chief minister. He added that after Kalyan quit BJP, he had called BJP “communal”, a release issued by the channel said.

The SP leader also said Kalyan “now represents the downtrodden and working-class and he has always been a supporter of their issues. We cannot call him extremist now”.