No BJP leader met Vajpayee

The patriarch watched Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha debate on television

"Yeh baat sahi nai hai!"

Had he been making public appearances, Vajpayee would have probably said this in his quintessential style, reacting to the heat generated by the Liberhan Commission report.

The BJP patriarch is atu00a0 number seven in the list of those indicted for the demolition of the disputed structure at the Ramjanambhoomi-Babri Masjid at Ayodhya on December 6, 1992.

Close aides of the senior leader, now confined to his 6A, Krishna Menon Marg due to several health problems, told MiD DAY that he remained glued to the television throughout Tuesday. He was eager to read a copy of the report, however, it could not be made available till evening.

The copies of the report were insufficient and the report could not be translated into Hindi. Therefore, it was uploaded on the Ministry of Home Affairs' website. Vajpayee's staff apparently downloaded it and then gave it to him by late Tuesday evening.

"He watched Lok Sabha and Rajya Sabha debates and news channels during these two days. Today he was glued to the TV and did not meet anyone. He was seemingly disturbed and spent most of the time watching TV channels unlike normal days," sources said.u00a0

Interestingly, no BJP leader visited his house after the news about his indictment in the Babri Masjid demolition case spread. "No senior leader met him. However, we can't say anything about phone calls during this time," a close aide of the leader said.

It has been a usual practice that whenever Vajpayee wanted to react to a development, his office released a written statement. However, this time it seems that even his office is keeping mum over the issue, which has rocked the nation.

"Let the party decide how to deal with the situation. We don't know if he is planning to take any initiative," he said.

Ever since Vajpayee bid adieu to public life, there are very few instances when he has reacted. During Maharashtra and Haryana elections he appealed to masses to vote for BJP. Also when Lalji Tandon was fielded by BJP from Lucknow seat he appealed in his favour.

MiD DAY had reported that the BJP named him in the list of star campaigners for Maharashtra and Haryana elections, however, he did not appear in person and sent a taped audio message to garner votes for the party.
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On Monday, Home Minister P Chidambaram announced in Parliament that the government was ready to table the report on the floor of the house but they might have problem in getting the sufficient number of copies and also there will only be copies in English. Later, the government consulted Deputy Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj and Chairman of both the houses on the issue.

Swaraj also reportedly told the government that the BJP did not have any problem if report is tabled in English only.

Prime Minister Manmohan Singh on Monday evening had asked Finance Minister Pranab Mukherjee to convene a cabinet meeting on Tuesday morning to clear the decks for tabling of the report.

By evening the MHA website had recorded 5,000 hits, as people were anxiously waiting to get their hands on a copy of the Liberhan report.