After talking about "moral" responsibility on Wednesday, former Bharatiya Janata Party leader Kalyan Singh on Thursday said he owned 'total' responsibility for the demolition of the Babri Masjid when he was the chief minister in 1992 in remarks seen as helping his new ally Samajwadi Party from attacks from Muslims on the issue.
"I want to state that the incident that took place on December 6, 1992 in Ayodhya. I own total responsibility for it. I had even resigned from chief minister post on the same day," he told media persons after a three-hour meeting with SP leaders Mulayam Singh Yadav and Amar Singh at his residence.
Kalyan's remarks are in amplification of Wednesday's comments that he owned moral responsibility then but still fell short of an apology which the SP is believed to have urged him to do to assuage Muslim sentiments.
Expressing his strong anti-BJP feelings, Kalyan said, "I will leave no stone unturned to defeat the BJP. I will work for the complete destruction of the BJP and stop all possibilities of the formation of a BJP-led NDA government at the Centre."
When asked for his reaction to reports that some sections of the minority community were opposed to his closeness to Mulayam Singh, he said, "The ordinary Muslim has welcomed and is happy about my friendship with Mulayam. Muslims do not want BJP and neither do I so where is the conflict."
Kalyan said he would work for the SP so that it wins maximum seats in both the Lok Sabha and the next assembly elections.
"I will make my full contribution to help Samajwadi Party win as many seats as possible in the forthcoming Lok Sabha elections. I will also work for the formation of a Samajwadi Party government in Uttar Pradesh in the next Vidhan Sabha elections," he said.
Kalyan also named Mayawati's BSP, which he had once supported in Uttar Pradesh as part of the BJP, as his other adversary.
"My objective is to free Uttar Pradesh from the state-sponsored terrorism of BSP as it has a lot of mafias in its fold," he said.
When asked if he would contest the elections, a reluctant Kalyan said, "If I ever contest the Lok Sabha elections it will be from Etah and as an Independent."
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