NEW DELHI - Indian Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee came under fire in parliament on Monday for saying he was confident that a bitter row over building a Hindu temple in northern India would be resolved by next March.
Opposition lawmakers said Vajpayee appeared to have made the statement with an eye on provincial elections in the key state of Uttar Pradesh early next year where the disputed site is located.
One deputy said Vajpayee's comments risked inflaming religious passions.
Vajpayee told a news conference on Sunday that negotiations "were on to resolve the Ayodhya issue at different levels" and a solution would be found by next March, the deadline set by hardline Hindu groups to begin construction of the temple.
Hindu hardliners have demanded the temple to the Hindu god-king Ram be built on a site in Ayodhya in northern India where a mob of Hindu fanatics razed a 16th-century mosque in 1992, sparking India's bloodiest religious riots in five decades.
"(Vajpayee's comments) were made with a view to incite communal riots in Uttar Pradesh and with the elections in mind," said Ramji Lal Suman of the opposition Samajwadi Party.
Congress lawmaker Jaipal Reddy said the prime minister should clarify his statements and tell parliament with which groups he had held talks."
"There's no possibility of the talks being successful," Reddy added.
Hindu revivalists say Muslim Moghul emperor Babur tore down a temple at the place they believe was the birthplace of Ram. Muslims contest this and the fate of the site is caught in a legal tangle.
Opposition deputies said the prime minister should not have commented on such an explosive issue outside parliament but Vajpayee told the lower house he had done nothing wrong.
"I just said I hoped the issue of Ayodhya was sorted out before March. Talks are going on. It's not in the national interest to say at this stage with whom the talks are going on. When the solution emerges, we'll let the house know," he said.
Vajpayee, widely seen as a moderate in the Hindu nationalist Bharatiya Janata Party, triggered a political storm last year when he said efforts to build a temple at Ayodhya reflected national sentiment.
06:48 08-27-01
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