BJP has decided against fielding party leaders indicted by the Liberhan commission during the discussions in the Lok Sabha tomorrow which is expected to be dominated by the debate on two former prime ministers Atal Bihari Vajpayee and late PV Narasimha Rao.
While the culpability of Vajpayee by the commission has come under attack from BJP and the Sangh Parivar, the clean chit to Rao has also attracted flak from the Left and the Right parties alike. The report of the Commission which went into the demolition of Babri Masjid was tabled in Parliament last week, 17 years after the panel was set up.
BJP managers let it known that senior leaders LK Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi will not participate in the discussion following a decision by the party against fielding those indicted in the report.
While BJP president Rajnath Singh will initiate the debate on behalf of the party, its deputy leader in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj will be the second speaker.
Party sources added that Advani, Joshi and Lalji Tandon can intervene at a personal level when their names are taken in the House. Congress kept close to its chest the leaders who would speak in the debate with party leaders evading questions whether Rahul Gandhi would lead the charge of the party.
"We have a number of competent people who can speak," a Union minister said. CPI leader Gurudas Dasgupta will initiate the special discussion and home minister P Chidambaram will reply to it on Wednesday after day-long discussions tomorrow.
In the Upper House, the discussion is scheduled a day after the 17th anniversary of the demolition. There BJP is unlikely to field Vinay Katiyar and Kalraj Mishra who were also indicted by the commission.
Leader of the Opposition in the Rajya Sabha Arun Jaitley and senior leader M Venkaiah Naidu are likely to speak on behalf of BJP in the Upper House. Former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh, who is now an Independent member and has been indicted by the Commission, is however, expected to take part.
