Congress party is responsible for unlocking of the Babri Masjid:Asaduddin Owaisi

AIMIM president Asaduddin Owaisi on Monday backed the reported claim of former Union Home Secretary Madhav Godbole that former Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi got the locks of the Babri Mosque opened and said it was an "historical fact."

Talking to reporters here, Owaisi also claimed that Rajiv Gandhi had commenced his election campaign from the place.

There is truth in what Madhav Godbole saab has said. He said correctly that the then Prime Minister Rajiv Gandhi got the locks of the Babri Masjid opened.

It is a historical fact. It is also a historical fact that the matter of opening the locks had nothing to do with the Shah Bano case," Owaisi told reporters here.

What Godbole had reportedly said about Rajiv



Gandhi was correct, he said.

Attacking the Congress, he said the party was in power when the locks were opened and P V Narasimha Rao of Congress was Prime Minister when the disputed structure was demolished.

"Congress was equally a partner in this fault," he said.

Asked about BJP leader Vinay Katiyar's reported comments that they would focus on Kashi and Mathura temple issues after the Ayodhya verdict was announced, Owaisi hoped that the judgment in the case would reaffirm the rule of law in the country.

"... what this person has said, that, yes, definitely they want to take forward all these issues in the form of Kashi and Mathura now," he said.