Senior VHP leader, who spearheaded Ram Janmabhoomi agitation, in ICU

Former VHP president Vishnu Hari Dalmia, one of the three major exponents of the Ram Janmabhoomi agitation, has been admitted to the ICU in a Delhi hospital.

Dalmia has been kept in the ICU in Apollo Hospital, Kapil Sharma, secretary of the Shri Krishna Janmasthan Seva Sansthan, said.

The nonagenarian is the trustee of the Shri Ram Janmabhoomi Nyas and member of Kendriya Margdarshak Mandal, Sharma said.

With veteran VHP leaders Ashok Singhal and Giriraj Kishore, Dalmia played a major role in the agitation.

The Babri mosque was demolished on December 6, 1992, by 'kar sevaks', who had converged as part of the movement by the BJP and Hindu outfits for a Ram temple at the disputed site.

The Supreme Court is scheduled to take up a batch of petitions for hearing in the Ram Janmabhoomi-Babri Masjid title dispute case on January 4.

The bench is likely to constitute a three-judge bench for hearing as many as 14 appeals filed against the 2010 Allahabad High Court judgement, delivered in four civil suits, that the 2.77-acre land be partitioned equally among three parties -- the Sunni Waqf Board, Nirmohi Akhara and the Ram Lalla.