I respect Vajpayeeji: Rahul Gandhi

Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he respected veteran BJP leader Atal Bihari Vajpayee as a senior politician and did not know whether the Liberhan Commission has done the right thing or not by naming him in its report on the Babri demolition.

"Vajpayeeji is a senior leader. I respect him," Gandhi said at a press conference here on being asked about the Liberhan Commission mentioning the former Prime Minister's name in the list 68 persons who were held culpable for the demolition in the year 1992.

Gandhi's comments came a day after the Congress adopted a conciliatory tone virtually giving a clean chit to Vajpayee in the conspiracy to bring down the Babri Masjid. "Whether the Liberhan Commission has done a right thing or not, I cannot say...I am not a judge," Gandhi said.

Gandhi said he does not have the experience that Vajpayee has as a senior politician and veteran parliamentarian.

"I actually have not gone into the details of whether he (Vajpayee) was given an opportunity or not given an opportunity (to depose before the Liberhan Commission). So I do not really know the answer," Rahul said.

"All I say is that as far as I am concerned, Vajpayeeji is a senior politician and he is a senior person. As a young person and as a person who is nowhere near the experience of Vajpayeeji...in our tradition, I owe him a certain deal of respect, which I give. That's my view on this," he added.