New Delhi: Taking a stern view of Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP)'s attack on Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee over his Goa musings, the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on January 3 asked the sangh parivar outfit to exercise restraint instead of making such comments.

"Vajpayee is not just a leader of BJP. He is the Prime Minister of the country. The party is solidly behind him and people should think ten times before making comments on him," BJP spokesman Sunil Shastri said in an informal chat with reporters.

In his musings, the Prime Minister had only referred to the Supreme Court observation on hindutva and the one defined by Swami Vivekananda.

"BJP fully agrees with and endorses the observation made by the Prime Minister with regard to hindutva," he said.

Attacking Vajpayee's interpretation of hindutva, senior VHP leader Acharya Giriraj Kishore had on January 2 said those ready to make "any kind of compromise to save their chair had no right to make such comments".

PTI