I was kept in dark about Babri: Kalyan Singh

Former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh on Saturday accused the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) of keeping him in the "dark" about the Babri Masjid demolition in 1992 and hatching a "conspiracy" against him.

"It was a conspiracy against me by the BJP leaders. It was a conspiracy to oust me. I was kept in the dark (about the demolition)," said the rebel BJP leader Kalyan Singh, who is contesting as an independent from Etah district.

Kalyan Singh said the BJP leaders assured him that nothing will happen. "Senior BJP leaders said no demolition will take place. I believed them," he added - in an apparent attempt to woo the Muslim voters.

Raking up the caste factor, he said: "I was not acceptable to the BJP. I was targetted because I come from the backward classes."

The 16th century Babri Masjid was razed by Hindu activists on Dec 6, 1992, when Kalyan Singh was the chief minister of Uttar Pradesh. It triggered large scale communal riots in northern India.