New Delhi, September 19: Meets fallen former minister Amit Shah in Sabarmati jail and his family members at their residenceSenior BJP leader L K Advani on Saturday visited former junior home minister Amit Shah in Sabarmati jail and later met his family at their residence.
Talking to reporters later, the former deputy PM said he would speak on the Ayodhya issue at Somnath on September 25, a day after the Allahabad High Court is expected to give its landmark verdict on September 24. It’s a rare coincidence that Advani visits Somnath temple on September 25 every year ever since he took out his historic rath yatra from there first in 1990, which eventually led to the demolition of the Babri mosque in 1992.
Accompanied by BJP leader Balbir Punj, who is party in-charge of Gujarat, Advani called on Shah in the Sabarmati Central Jail and spent about 20 minutes with him. From there, the BJP stalwart headed straight to Shah’s residence of Shivkunj in the Naranpura area, where he met the family members of the jailed former minister.
Emerging from Shivkunj, Advani told reporters he had come to the city to enquire about Shah’s health and daily routine, besides apprising him of the situation outside. He said he also called on ailing Assembly Speaker Ashok Bhatt, whose health he said was improving. Pressed for his views on the anxiously awaited Ayodhya verdict, Advani said he would speak on it on September 25 in the temple town of Somnath. On the CBI action against Amit Shah, Advani said he believed the Centre was using the CBI and that it was absolutely improper to defame “our government”. He said the people alone would give a reply.
Referring to Friday’s Kathlal Assembly bypoll verdict, Advani said it was not an ordinary development. “Never before have we got an Assembly constituency like this since 1947 … and we did not think the Congress would face such a defeat in an area which was its stronghold,” the BJP leader said. He said the party thought it would win Kathlal seat by 5,000-odd votes but a victory margin of 21,000 votes was proof enough that the people were stunned with the attitude of the (Central) government.
After Advani’s departure from Shah’s house, the family members refused to disclose what transpired during the meeting that lasted about 15 minutes. But when someone suggested Advani had come to console them, Shah’s son promptly interrupted saying he had assured them that Shah would be out of jail soon.
———Agencies