New Delhi: BJP today said the special court verdict on Godhra train burning case has 'vindicated' its stand that there was a conspiracy behind it and accused the UPA governmet of trying to cover up the entire episode.
It said the court verdict convicting 31 accused in 2002 Godhra train burning case had 'exposed the nefarious designs' of the UPA government which 'tried to cover up' the entire episode.
The party dismissed as 'eyewash' the report of the U.C. Banerjee Committee, appointed by the then Railway Minister Lalu Prasad Yadav to probe the causes of fire in Sabarmati Express at Godhra, that the fire was 'accidental'.
"The judgement proves that the court has accepted that this was a culmination of a conspiracy. The arson and self-immolation theory ended today," Leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj told reporters.
BJP maintained the judgement also accepts that the event was 'planned in a room' and petrol was bought to set the train on fire.
"The judgement vindicates our stand that they (victims) were burnt to death under a conspiracy. It re-establishes the conspiracy theory," Swaraj said.
The main opposition insisted that the verdict proves its contention that the U.C. Banerjee committee report, which stated that the fire was caused from inside the S-6 bogey of Sabarmati Express, was an 'eyewash and manipulated'.
BJP spokesperson Shahnawaz Hussain said the verdict has come as an 'embarrasment' for the central government.
"The theory of the government and some NGOs has been proved wrong with the court saying there was a conspiracy.... One man (Banerjee) gave a clean chit but the court has not accepted this. The attempts to rubbish the fact of conspiracy has been defeated," Hussain said.
Party chief spokesperson Ravishankar Prasad maintained that some elements were trying to 'belittle the issue but finally justice has prevailed'.
"Certainly, there has been a degree of assurance that law and justice has prevailed. There were elements who were trying to belittle it. There have been politicians who tried to abuse it," Prasad said.