‘Vajpayee had plan to solve Babri dispute, was upset by demolition’

{ NEW BIOGRAPHY } REVELATIONS

- HT Correspondent

As LK Advani's controversial Rath Yatra kicked up dust in the autumn“ of 1990, Atal Bihari Vaj-payee and his team came up with a formula toresolve the Ram Jan-mabhoomi-Babri Masjid dispute.

Under the plan, the government would acquire 67 acres of land in Ayodhya to give to the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, except for the disputed site, and refer the case to the Supreme Court. Then prime minister VP Singh agreed toissue an ordinance to the effect but Advani, who didn’t trust Singh, backed out of the deal. Vaj-payee continued to try, convincing Singh the next day to unilaterally issue the ordinance. The president was “pulled out of his bed at 12.30 atnight’ to sign the ordinance.

But the move infuriated the Babri Masjid Action Committee and Janata Dal leaders such as Mulayam Singh Yadav. On the other side, the VHP didn'tagree to defer its kar seva plans and Advani continued his yatra. A chastised Singh took back his ordinance.

This revelation is part of historian Abhishek Choudhary's new biography of the former PM, Believer’s Dilemma: Vajpayee and the Hindu Right's Path to Power, 1977-2018, the second of a two-partvolume,