Murli Manohar Joshi thanked the lawyers who appeared for him in the matter (File)
Former Union Minister and BJP veteran Murli Manohar Joshi Wednesday termed "historic" a special CBI court verdict acquitting all the 32 accused, including him, in the Babri masjid demolition case.
"I will say only one thing ''Jai Jai Shri Ram, sab ko sanmatti de bhagwan (May Lord, bestow wisdom on all)," he said, expressing happiness over the judgement.
The special CBI court in Lucknow on Wednesday acquitted all the 32 accused in the 1992 Babri mosque demolition case, including Mr Joshi and former deputy prime minister L K Advani, saying there was no conclusive proof against them.
"The court had delivered a historic verdict," Mr Joshi told reporters here in his first reaction to the verdict in the 28-year-old case.
He thanked the lawyers who appeared for him in the matter and said they presented all the aspects and facts before the court.
"The CBI's arguments could not withstand the ones presented by our lawyers because of their hard work and preparations in this complex case. And the judge has brought out the truth before everybody," he said.
Mr Joshi was the BJP president during the period when thousands of karsevaks gathered in Ayodhya as part of the campaign for building a Ram temple, and the mosque was brought down.
"The verdict has proven that our programmes were not under any conspiracy," the 86-year-old said Wednesday.
He said, "I feel this controversy should come to end with the verdict. The entire country should be ready for the construction of a grand Ram temple. I will say only one thing 'Jai Jai Shri Ram, Sab ko sanmatti de bhagwan," he said.
A contemporary of Atal Bihari Vajpayee and L K Advani, MM Joshi was one of the key faces of the party in 80s and 90s.
He has been a member of Parliament from Uttar Pradesh several times and was considered close to the RSS.