'Rao govt made grave political mistake by trusting BJP'

The BJP broke every single promise made before the SC and to the Government of India on Kar Seva at the Babri masjid site while the then Central government committed a grave political mistake by trusting the party, P Chidambaram said in his reply to the Liberhan panel debate even as Opposition tried to shout down the minister.

Home Minister P Chidambaram today said the Congress government made a "wrong political judgement" in 1992 of believing the BJP and the Uttar Pradesh government that led to the demolition of Babri Masjid for which P V Narasimha Rao and the party paid the price.

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Winding up a two-day acrimonious discussion on the Liberhan Commission report in the Lok Sabha, Chidambaram,
unlike his ministerial colleague Salman Khurshid, did not give a clean chit to Atal Bihari Vajpayee, saying though he was not present in Ayodhya on December 6, 1992, he had delivered a speech a day earlier exhorting kar sevaks to go to Ayodhya where "demolition" took place.

In an hour-long reply that was sought to be drowned by slogan-shouting BJP members angry over some remarks of a
Congress member against Vajpayee, he asserted that the demolition was a "pre-planned and cold-blooded" act conducted by the Sangh Parivar and BJP leaders like L K Advani and M M Joshi cannot escape responsibility.

"False promises, lies to the Supreme Court, lies to the Central government and you create a situation in which
unfortunately the government of the day made a wrong political judgement.