Tuesday, February 8 2005 11:51 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Ranchi: Former Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Kalyan Singh today (Feb 8, 2005) said he had no regrets about the demolition of a disputed structure in Ayodhya but admitted that he could not keep the promise to save the shrine.

"I neither regret nor feel sad nor repent for the demolition of the structure. I even uttered these words before the court," the senior BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader told a press conference in Ranchi referring to the pulling down of the structure over a decade ago.

"Yes, I had promised to save it, but I could not. So I resigned from the Chief Minister's post then," Singh said in reply to a question.

Asserting that a temple would be constructed on the disputed site, Singh claimed the temple issue was not a way of garnering votes. "It is the identity and self-respect of the nation, and one should not oppose it," he asserted.

To a query, Singh said he could not fix a time frame on the construction of the temple.

On the political developments in Goa, Singh said the Government there had been 'unethically' brought down which was not good for democracy.