Senior BJP leader and former Uttar Pradesh chief minister Kalyan Singh.

Senior BJP leader and former UP chief minister Kalyan Singh on Monday blamed the then Congress government at the Centre for levelling “false and baseless allegations” against him in the Babri Masjid demolition case because of political animosity, and said that he and his government had ensured three-tier security of the disputed structure in Ayodhya.

“I was falsely implicated, I am innocent,” Singh said as he left the CBI special court premises after recording his statement under Section 313 of CrPC.

After examining the total 354 prosecution witnesses, the court had started recording statements of all the 32 accused under Section 313 of CrPC. Of the total 49 accused booked in the case, 17 have died so far.

The CBI court is conducting day-to-day hearings to complete the trial by August 31, as directed by the Supreme Court.

Under Section 313, a judge questions the accused on the basis of evidence submitted during trial, and the accused is given an opportunity to explain the circumstances and allegations against him. Statements of 25 of the accused have been recorded so far.

“Kalyan Singh appeared before the court today and his statement was recorded under 313 of CrPC,” said Singh’s lawyer Abhishek Ranjan. Singh was the UP chief minister when the Babri Masjid was demolished on December 6, 1992 by Hindu activists who claimed that an ancient Ram temple had stood on the same site.

“The then Congress government at the Centre levelled false and baseless allegations against me and filed a case out of political animosity,” he told reporters, adding that all administrative officials were then regularly being directed to ensure the safety of the disputed site according to the situation.

Other accused, including former Deputy PM L K Advani and senior BJP leader M M Joshi, are yet to be examined at this stage.

Their lawyers have indicated to the CBI court that they prefer to appear through video conferencing.