Maharajgunj (Bihar): Vice-President Bhairon Singh Shekhawat on March 23 said the Ayodhya dispute would have been solved once and for all if the Chandrashekhar government at the Centre had survived just for 10 days.

The country would have been spared the tension if Chandrashekhar, who had almost found a solution to the Ayodhya issue, and his government had survived for another 10 days, Shekhawat said while addressing a public meeting on the occasion of the 75th birth anniversary of the former prime Minister.

Shekhawat told the gathering that the contributions of the 'loknayak' Jai Prakash Narain and Chandrashekhar towards mobilising public opinion against the excesses during the Emergency.

Chandrashekhar in his speech said in politics, none could establish himself without adhering to moral values.

The former Prime Minister criticised the war against Iraq and said there was a need for launching a concerted movement for removing hunger, poverty and inequality from the country and the world.

Addressing the gathering, the Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) president Laloo Prasad Yadav criticised the Centre for not firmly condemning the US attack on Iraq and requested Chandrashekhar to take a lead in launching a movement against the Centre's soft stand.

Others, who addressed the gathering, included the Union Information And Broadcasting Minister Ravi Shanker, the Minister of state for Commerce Rajiv Pratap Singh Rudi, Minister of state for External Affairs Digvijay Singh and a host of National Democratic Alliance (NDA) leaders.

PTI