Babri Masjid: ‘At the time of demolition of Babri Masjid, the then PM had trusted Rajmata Scindia’s words’, claims Pawar

Sharad Pawar
Photo: ANI

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When the Ram Janmabhoomi movement was gaining momentum in 1992, BJP leader Vijaya Raje Scindia assured then Prime Minister PV Narasimha Rao that nothing would happen to the Babri Masjid and he believed her against the advice of his ministers. Nationalist Congress Party (NCP) chief Sharad Pawar made this disclosure on Tuesday. Speaking at the launch of the book ‘How Prime Ministers Decide’ by senior journalist Neerja Chowdhary, Pawar, who was the Defense Minister at the time of the Babri Masjid demolition, said he was present in the meeting with the then Home Minister and Home Secretary.

The NCP chief said, there was a group of ministers in which he was also involved. It was decided that the Prime Minister should call a meeting of the concerned party leaders. He said, in that meeting, Vijaya Raje Scindia had assured the Prime Minister that nothing would happen to the Babri Masjid. Pawar said that while he, the Home Minister and the Home Secretary felt that anything could happen, Rao chose to believe Scindia. Meanwhile, Chowdhury recalled Rao’s conversation with some senior journalists after the mosque demolition, where the prime minister was asked what he was doing at the time of the demolition. He claimed that Rao told reporters that he allowed this to happen because it would open a serious wound and he felt that the BJP would lose its main political card.