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VHP willing to defer temple issue, but seeks Govt assurance

The thaw came about as a result of the government and the RSS mounting pressure on the VHP leadership to tone down the Ram mandir movement in view of the mounting tension in Ayodhya and the violence in Gujarat.

Senior VHP leaders, including its senior vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore and international general secretary Praveen Togadia had earlier rushed to the capital on Friday and held an emergency meeting to deliberate on the issue.

RSS chief K S Sudarshan had been discussing possible solutions to the issue with the VHP's international working president Ashok Singhal till late on Thursday night.

During the talks, Singhal is believed to have expressed his inclination to tone down the VHP stand provided the Centre give some assurance to the Hindu religious leaders regarding a solution to the Ram temple issue at the earliest, sangh sources said.

According to the sources, Singhal told sangh leaders that it would be extremely embarrassing for the VHP to call off its on-going stir in Ayodhya in response to Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's appeal 'after having built-up momentum over the past several months'.

Sangh leaders on their part tried to convince Singhal that it should not create a situation, which could put the BJP-led NDA government in trouble.

The meeting came after Vajpayee sought the RSS's intervention to sort out the impasse in the wake off mounting tension in Ayodhya, the Godhra killings and subsequent violence in Gujarat.

Defence Minister and NDA convenor George Fernandes, Union Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi and BJP MP from Maharashtra Balasaheb Apte also visited the Jhandewalan headquarters in Delhi on Thursday and held talks with sangh parivar leaders.

Togadia was in Ayodhya overseeing the on-going 'Purnahuti Yajna', Kishore was in Gujarat.

PTI

The Ayodhya Issue: Complete Coverage

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