BJP's double speak on Ayodhya verdict: Cong

New Delhi: The Congress on Monday hit out at the BJP for dubbing Ayodhya verdict as a case of "faith upheld by law", saying the opposition party was "atrociously politicising" the issue and indulging in double speak.

The party also dismissed suggestions that the judgment has in any way condoned the "agenda" of demolition of the Babri Masjid.

"This is atrocious politicisation of the issue by (L K) Advani and other BJP leaders. Before the judgment they claimed that the court cannot decide on faith and now they are saying law has upheld faith. This is their double speak," party spokesperson Jayanthi Natarajan told reporters here.

Referring to the Ayodhya verdict, BJP leader L K Advani had written in his blog: "As both the RSS as well as the BJP have emphasised, this judgment has given judicial recognition to the fact that millions in the country do believe that the makeshift temple where Ram Lalla is presently installed is Ram Janmabhoomi -- the birthplace of Rama. "The situation no longer is ''Faith versus Law'', it is ''Faith upheld by Law''."

Natrajan's remarks came on a day when Advani said he feels "vindicated" about his Ayodhya ''rath yatra'' in the wake of the Allahabad High Court verdict and prefers a negotiated settlement for building a Ram temple at the place where the makeshift temple now stands.

"Yes, I do feel vindicated because I believe that until 1989 BJP was not part of this (temple) movement which actually started in 1949," he told PTI in an interview in response to a question whether the judgment has vindicated his temple campaign launched in 1989 from Somnath to Ayodhya.

The Congress Working Committee will be meeting here tomorrow for the first time after the September 30 judgment of the Lucknow bench of the Allahabad High Court and is expected to discuss the issue.

The Congress spokesperson refused to comment on the judgment saying, "This is a judicial process. Let the judicial process culminate." Natarajan also steered clear of Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M Karunanidhi's remarks welcoming the Ayodhya verdict but later downplaying it.