Beni Warns Kalyan Govt On Ayodhya

Union communications minister Beni Prasad Verma yesterday repeated the United Fronts stand that the Centre and the secular forcesof the country would not remain a silent spectator if the Bharatiya Janata Party -led government in Uttar Pradesh tried to rake up communal frenzy on the Ayodhya issue.

Verma, who belongs to the Samajwadi Party, took strong exception to the reported statement of Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh that the BJP was committed to the construction of a Ram temple at the disputed site in Ayodhya.Verma said the Uttar Pradesh chief ministers stand was unconstitutional and against political ethics, he complained that the BJP-led coalition government was trying to rake up the Ayodhya issue again keeping the next election in view.

According to him, it was clear that the priority of the new government in the state was not development but to misuse government machinery for political objectives.Charging the previous Mayawati regime of large scale diversion of plan funds for non-plan expenditure, the senior SP leader expressed the apprehension that the trend might continue under the new state government.