Vajpayee to quit if forced on Ayodhya

"There is no compulsion. The day I feel I am under compulsion, I will quit rajpaat (politics) and go," Vajpayee said while rejecting Samajwadi Party leader Mulayam Singh Yadav's charge that he was under "compulsion" to make such statements on Ayodhya.

Replying to an impromptu debate on the notice of adjournment motion given by Opposition members, the Prime Minister said there was no change in the Government's stand and what he said at Ayodhya was nothing "objectionable".

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"There has been no change in my stand. I only said that the last wish of Paramhansji will be fulfilled," Vajpayee said, emphasising "I never said where the Ram temple can be constructed."

"I have stated hundreds of times what I said at Ayodhya while paying homage to Paramhansji," the Prime Minister said, maintaining that there were two ways to resolve the dispute-- either through a negotiated settlement or a court verdict acceptable to all.

AFP adds: Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, under withering opposition attack in parliament, Monday stressed he wanted a bitter dispute between Hindus and Muslims over a holy site in northern India settled through the courts or by negotiation.

Opposition members sparked an uproar in the lower house when they accused Vajpayee of "inciting communal passions" by his comments at the funeral of a Hindu priest in which he vowed to ensure a temple was built on the site, in the town of Ayodhya.

Addressing mourners Friday at the funeral in Ayodhya of priest Ramchandra Paramhans -- the main force behind a rightwing Hindu drive to build a temple at the site -- Vajpayee said: "I shall fulfil his last wish.