Saturday, July 9 2005 11:36 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

Kolkata: Veteran Communist Party of India (CPI) Marxist (M) leader Jyoti Basu yesterday (July 8, 2005) charged the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) with attempting to stage a comeback by 'communalising' the terrorist attack in Ayodhya and trying to put up an 'united face' in the Sangh Parivar in the backdrop of L K Advani's statements on Jinnah.

"BJP has become weak since its defeat in the Lok Sabha polls and sharp differences have cropped up between BJP and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and Bajrang Dal," Basu told a Left Front rally in Kolkata to condemn the July five attack in Ayodhya.

"The Ayodhya incident offered them an opportunity to project a united face and play the communal card again. They thought that there would be a Hindu resurgence, but so far they have failed," he said.

Though there were bandhs in BJP-ruled states, there was hardly any people's response to the BJP's campaign in other parts of the country he said and cautioned people about 'designs' to whip up communal passions for ulterior gain.

He demanded that the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government initiate a thorough probe into the attack at Ayodhya.

Stating that the Centre must probe how the terrorists could enter Ayodhya complex which is a fortress, Basu said that a trial was pending on the Ayodhya issue in the Supreme Court.

The CPI (M) leader also condemned yesterday's (July 8, 2005) London bomb blasts and called for a relentless fight against the scourge of terrorism.