Mindful of the potential to exploit the squabbling within the ruling Congress over the Ram Setu affidavit fiasco, which continued even on Monday with a fresh suggestion from senior leader R K Dhawan that it would have been better if culture minister Ambika Soni had resigned on moral grounds, the BJP has stepped up its attack by threatening to take legal action against the government over the issue, if Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress chairperson Sonia Gandhi did not tender public apology for the ??blasphemous blunder??.
Reiterating the party?s stand that the affidavit was not a mistake, BJP spokesperson Ravi Shankar Prasad, citing additional solicitor general statement in the Supreme Court, who appeared on behalf of the government, said, ??While withdrawing the affidavits, the law officer claimed that the submission was a team effort and so we feel that the current squabbling in the Congress and the UPA is just part of competitive blame game in which the ruling party and the coalition have plunged into.??
??It is now becoming increasingly evident that the affidavit was not an inadvertent omission but a deliberate and conscious act. An offence under Section 295 (a) of the Indian Penal Code, punishable by three years in jail for hurting religious beliefs, has already been committed,?? he said.
Re-emphasising the party demand of apology from both the Prime Minister and Congress chief, he said, the competitive politics of blame game in the government underscores the critical demand for apology from the Congress chief and the Prime Minister.
Flaying TN chief minister M Karunanidhi for his comments that ??Ram?? is a factious character and he never existed, Prasad said, his party totally disapproves his comment. ??I would like to ask him if he can make a similar statement about any other faith,?? he said.
Meanwhile, Dhawan, who is also a member of Congress Working Committee (CWC), said that Soni could have submitted her papers to the Prime Minister and party chief, leaving the matter to them for a decision.
Dhawan, however, said Union minister Jairam Ramesh should not have gone public over Soni?s resignation issue. He said Ramesh could have taken up the matter with the PM and the Congress chairperson.
??If they had rejected Soni?s resignation, then Ramesh could have resigned citing difference of opinion??, Dhawan, who had been a close aide of Indira Gandhi and for some time of Rajiv Gandhi during their tenure as prime minister, said.