New Delhi: Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani has said the demolition of Babri Masjid had hurt him "tremendously" and prevented the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) from getting a "clear majority" in Parliament.

"It (demolition) hurt me tremendously," he told BBC's 'Asia Today' in an interview, a release issued by the channel said.

Asked would he have become the Prime Minister by now but for the Ayodhya demolition, Advani said, "That's not the issue. The BJP would have got a clear majority by now if it was not for Ayodhya (demolition)."

"As for me, it was I who said Vajpayee should become the Prime Minister in 1996. Many people even then said why I was doing it. But you should appreciate that he (Vajpayee) has always been my senior and my leader."

To a question whether he was ready to lead the country if and when the occasion came, Advani said, "I wish him (Vajpayee) a very long life and may he lead the country for many more years to come."

Describing the Ayodhya issue as an "integrating" one, he said, "I regard Ayodhya not as a divisive issue, I regard it as an integrating issue. At that point of time, it integrated the castes in the Hindu society, the linguistic groups in the Hindu society.

"But the point where we have arrived today and the kind of discussions we have held even with Muslims in respect of Ayodhya is going to provide an integrating issue even in respect of Hindus and Muslims," he said.