Human Resources Development Minister Murli Manohar Joshi has said he would resign if the special court in Rae Bareilly on Friday framed charges against him in the Babri Masjid demolition case.
He, however, refused to say whether Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani, who is also involved in the case, should follow suit.
"I am aware of Joshi's statement. I have nothing to say. I will speak tomorrow evening," Advani said in his North Block office in New Delhi.
As partymen debated the pros and cons of the fallout of the judgment, Bharatiya Janata Party president Venkaiah Naidu said in Goa that there was no need for the chargesheeted leaders, including Advani, to quit in case of an adverse verdict.
He said it was a political case and there was no moral turpitude involved.
Naidu also cut short his visit to the south, cancelling his campaign for the Lok Sabha by-election in Eranakulum, and returned to New Delhi.
At the party's briefing in New Delhi, spokesperson Prakash Javadekar refused to discuss the course the BJP leaders might take.
"It will not be proper for anyone to comment till a decision is taken by the court," he said.
However, sources said the party had prepared a "contingency plan" to meet any eventuality.
Besides the political implications, the BJP top brass was understood to have discussed threadbare the legal ramifications and chalked out a strategy to counter any negative impact on the organisation ahead of the assembly elections, the sources said.
