New Delhi: Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on June 9 welcomed the statement by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee asking political parties and leaders to stay away from the Ayodhya issue, so that the "lingering" dispute could be resolved early through talks between representatives of Hindus and Muslims or judiciary.

"We welcome the remarks by the Prime Minister on the Ayodhya issue, as they are positive and the party has never considered it to be a political issue," party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters.

He said the party was against any political party interfering in the matter and the only way out was either through discussion between the communities concerned or through a court verdict.

He said the party was keen on settling the Ayodhya issue at the earliest.

To a question that it was BJP, which had politicised Ayodhya in its Palampur resolution, Naqvi said, "It was never so as we always considered Ayodhya to be part of cultural nationalism and not a political issue."

PTI