New Delhi, Nov. 23: Atal Bihari Vajpayee’s reported indictment for his “role” in the Babri demolition has “stunned” the BJP, but it wouldn’t have stalled Parliament even if the government did not table the Liberhan commission report in this session, party sources said.

Two senior MPs involved in drawing up the BJP’s floor strategy said they were “more inclined” to raise issues that could “unite” the Opposition instead of dividing it and had the potential to embarrass the Congress-led UPA government.

Sources said the BJP was likely to take up former Jharkhand chief minister Madhu Koda’s alleged scams when the House met tomorrow.

“We don’t want to be perceived as a single-issue party,” a Lok Sabha MP said, explaining the reasons for “going slow” or at least appearing to go slow on the Liberhan report.

“We feel price rise and corruption in UPA-II should get more attention than this (Liberhan) issue because these matters directly impinge on people’s lives. The Jharkhand elections begin on Wednesday. If we don’t take up Koda’s misdeeds, our voters will feel betrayed.”

The MP said the other reason was that the BJP didn’t want to “squander the gains” made when the Opposition coalesced to take on the government on the now rolled-back sugarcane ordinance.

“The Samajwadi Party, for instance, has said it is willing to work with us on any matter that it is not communally divisive,” the member added. “Why should we lose its goodwill by harping on Ayodhya?”

Sources said the party had also realised that the “temple card” had outlived its utility.

Some BJP sources were, however, thinking along another line: whether Advani’s comment that he was “proud” to have been associated with the Ayodhya movement would have a “positive” impact on the RSS.

The Sangh has dropped enough hints that it would like Advani to step down as leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha.

Spokesperson Sushma Swaraj said the report’s alleged leak was a “ploy” to “disintegrate” the Opposition. “It is not an ordinary leak, it was done in a planned and motivated way. No other issue could have divided the Opposition, only the Liberhan report could have,” she told reporters.

Sushma also accused the government of trying to “divert attention” from “scams” and the Congress’s “culpability” in the cases that have embroiled Koda.

On Vajpayee’s reported indictment, Sushma said the former Prime Minister had been informed by party leaders that the matter would be taken up in the House.

“We cannot live with this falsehood,” she said.