The Bharatiya Janata Party on Tuesday said various religious groups are holding talks without involving the government as part of efforts to resolve the Ayodhya dispute.

"The strong reactions from various quarters are not unusual as they feel this long-pending problem cannot be resolved so easily," party spokesman Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi told reporters in Delhi.

He declined to reveal who all were involved in the negotiations.

Naqvi said the party is against any political party interfering in the matter and the only way out is either through discussions between the two parties or through a court verdict.

He said the party was keen that the Ayodhya issue is settled at the earliest.

Deny the BJP had politicised the issue in its Palampur resolution, Naqvi said, "We always considered Ayodhya to be part of cultural nationalism and not a political issue."

Appreciating Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's appeal to political parties and leaders to stay away from the Ayodhya issue, Naqvi said it was a 'positive step' that would help speed up resolution of the long-pending problem.

Meanwhile, party sources said the Vishwa Hindu Parishad has as much right to express its views on the issue as any other organisation.

To a question whether the BJP-led National Democratic Alliance government was interested in an early solution to the issue, the sources said, "If it was not so, the government would not have approached the Supreme Court to speed up the decision."

PTI