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Mayawati refuses to disclose stand on Ayodhya case

Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Mayawati continues to keep everyone guessing about her government's stand on the question of issuing a fresh notification to revive criminal proceedings against Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and others in the Babri Masjid demolition case.

Reacting to the opposition's charge that she was shielding Advani, Mayawati held a press conference in Lucknow on Monday, accusing the Samajwadi Party of trying to make political capital of the issue and create a communal divide in the state government.

She was referring to the letter written by a Muslim legislator of the Samajwadi Party on the matter of re-notification to 15 Muslim legislators of her Bahujan Samaj Party. "It's a dirty attempt to create a communal divide," she said, "which the SP has been trying to forge even among the common masses through its sustained false propaganda."

Mayawati, however, did not spell out her government's decision, saying, "I cannot disclose our stand until we have sent a formal reply to the Supreme Court, which will be done before the deadline of September 23."

But giving a hint of her government's thinking, she added that no decision that could adversely affect the BSP-BJP alliance would be taken. "Whatever we do will be in the larger interest of the coalition," she said.

The criminal proceedings against Advani and 21 other prominent leaders of the Bharatiya Janata Party and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad were dropped after the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad high court had struck down on technical grounds the constitution of a special CBI [Central Bureau of Investigation] court to try the case.

The court had, however, also ruled that the state government could revive the proceedings by issuing a fresh notification in consultation with the chief justice of the Allahabad high court.

The Samajwadi Party had sought the intervention of the Supreme Court to direct the state government to re-issue the notification, but the court gave the government eight weeks to formulate a response.

Azam Khan, leader of the Samajwadi Party in the assembly, has accused Mayawati of using the issue of the notification to "blackmail" Advani into participating in a Bahujan Samaj Party rally to be held in Lucknow on September 28.

Advani will be sharing the dais with BSP president Kanshi Ram for the first time though the BJP and the BSP have been partners at least twice before since 1995.

The Ayodhya Issue: Complete Coverage

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