The BJP on Friday petitioned the Election Commission to stop the broadcast of Cobrapost’s sting operation on Babri Masjid demolition. Senior BJP leader Ravi Shankar Prasad said it seemed like an attempt to influence the pending trial on the issue and was also a “contempt of court.”
“The CBI case in the matter is under trial. Some cases are in the Supreme Court. I see this as an attempt to influence pending trial,” Mr. Prasad said.
The sting operation — carried out on nearly two dozen people closely involved with the Ram Janmabhoomi movement — tracks the meticulous planning that went into the demolition of the Babri Masjid on December 6, 1992. This runs contrary to the Sangh Parivar’s claim that the mob which had gathered at Ayodhya on that day ran amuck despite the leadership trying to control it.
Mr. Prasad said the sting operation was pre-planned. He said it was being used to divert attention from the real issues such as price rise, corruption and development by “Congress-post.”
“Why hasn’t Cobrapost done sting operations on scams like Coalgate, 2G spectrum allocation? Why are there no sting operations against the big leaders of the Congress?’’ Mr. Prasad asked.
Congress spokesman Randeep Surjewala said the sting operation nailed the BJP’s lie on the Babri Masjid demolition. On allegations that former Prime Minister P. V. Narasimha Rao had given his tacit support to the demolition, Mr. Surjewala said that the government went by the affidavit given by then U.P. Chief Minister Kalyan Singh in the Supreme Court and before the National Integration Council that no harm would be done to the disputed structure.
