Parliament to debate Liberhan report from today

While the Lok Sabha will have the discussion on the report on Monday and Tuesday, the Rajya Sabha will deliberate on it on December 9 and 10.

With Parliament scheduled to discuss the Liberhan Commission report from today, Congress and BJP are expected to try to put each other in the dock over the issue of demolition of Babri Masjid.

 BJP, several top leaders of which have been indicted by the Commission, is cut up with the virtual clean chit given to former Prime Minister P V Narasimha Rao by the panel, an issue on which it appears to be making a common cause with the Samajwadi Party.

This was evident with the Samajwadi Party going hammer and tongs against Congress over the report, saying the party then led by Rao failed to prevent the developments which ultimately led to the Masjid's demolition.

In this connection, the BJP is pointing out the denial of ticket by Congress to Rao in the 1998 Lok Sabha elections for his failure to protect the Masjid.

While the Lok Sabha will have the discussion on the report today and tomorrow, the Rajya Sabha will deliberate on it on December 9 and 10. The report is coming up for discussion a day after the 17th anniversary of the demolition.

The SP has also targeted Prime Minister Manmohan Singh accusing him of ensuring a clean chit for Rao under whom he had worked as Finance Minister in the 1990s, a charge dismissed as "laughable" by Congress.

"The party will present its own perspective on the report," Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said when asked how it would counter the opposition attack in the debate over the alleged inaction by Rao.

Congress has so far not revealed details of who it would field in the debate and whether Rahul Gandhi will participate in it.

Gandhi had earlier said if anyone from his family had been at the helm of affairs, the mosque would not have been demolished.

BJP has decided against fielding its leaders, who have been indicted by the Commission thereby leaving out L K Advani and Murli Manohar Joshi in the Lok Sabha and Vinay Katiyar and Kalraj Mishra in the Upper House.

The indictment of former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee by the Commission is being made an issue by the BJP.

The party is fielding a battery of senior leaders, including its President Rajnath Singh and Deputy Leader of the party in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj.

In Rajya Sabha, Leader of Opposition Arun Jaitley, senior MP M Venkaiah Naidu and party spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad will participate in the debate on the Commission's report.

Kalyan Singh, who was the Chief Minister of Uttar Pradesh when the disputed structure was demolished on December 6, 1992, is expected to participate in the discussion.

Singh, who was then a BJP leader and is now an independent member of Lok Sabha, has been indicted in the report, with the Commission holding that he led the demolition "cartel" of the BJP and Sangh Parivar leaders.