The Home Minister's visit came in the wake of the mysterious killing of Tiruchi district BJP president Shridharan. Advani said that Shridharan was a target of political conspiracy and that the murder was a planned one, with no ``personal dimensions'' of any kind. Sridhar had become a ``political target'' for those who are systematically trying to promote communal violence and instability in the country, he added.

Carrying on in the same vein, Advani telescoped the problem as a general one of forces hostile to the BJP. And, replying to a question whether he advocated the imposition of Article 356 in Orissa where a nun has been raped, Advani pointed out that he had directed the state administration to probe the incident, and backed it up by observing -- if Governments are to be dismissed for anincident of crime, no state Government will survive. He also refused to read any communal connotations into the incident.

When asked about the charge that he has been giving a clean chit to the Bajrang Dal, he said it was the Centre which had taken the unprecedented decision of requesting the Supreme Court to appoint a sitting judge to head the commission of inquiry appointed to investigate the killing of the Australian missionary Graham Staines and his sons.

CLOSE TO SANGH: Answering the charge that Advani is trying to upstage himself against Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee, by closely associating himself with the Sangh Parivar, Advani smiled and came up with an enigmatic ``no comments.''