AHMEDABAD/NEW DELHI, 2 September — Gujarat’s ruling Hindu extremist Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has deferred to Sept. 7 a controversial rally that was to begin tomorrow.

The BJP said the postponement was not linked to Congress party leader Shankersinh Vaghela’s announcement that he would go on a 24-hour hunger strike at Phanvel village, 75 km from here, today.

The BJP’s statewide "Gaurav Yatra" or a string or ‘pride’ rallies are to begin from the village.

BJP General Secretary and yatra convener Jayanti Barot maintained that the yatra would begin on Sept. 7 but did not ascribe any reason for the postponement.

It was not immediately clear whether Vaghela would launch his fast as scheduled or whether he too would defer it.

"I will sit on a hunger strike for 24 hours from noon tomorrow (Monday). We will have a religious ceremony at a temple at 12.30 p.m. the next day," Vaghela said yesterday. "It is up to the BJP to hold their yatra peacefully. Our program is religious and not political."

But authorities are worried since Chief Minister Narendra Modi too had planned to visit the same temple around 11:00 a.m. and perform rituals there. It was not known whether Modi would stick to this schedule.

The BJP, however, made light of Vaghela’s bid and said there would be no violence in Phanvel, a village that falls in Kheda district.

"I don’t think Vaghela’s hunger strike would make any difference to our yatra," Barot said. "There would be no violence at Phanvel."

The BJP rally was to be held half a km from the temple from where Vaghela would undertake his hunger strike.

Commenting that "a sane society has no place for violence", Modi earlier said he hoped the Congress would not create any trouble at the village.

Said Modi: "When we are not creating any trouble for Congress rallies anywhere in the state, why should they do it at Phanvel?" The people of Phanvel are reportedly uneasy about the impending events in their region.

The village council has written to district authorities at Kheda seeking help to ensure peace.

Phanvel was untouched by sectarian fury even as many other parts of the state were engulfed by communal killings during February-May.

BJP’s critics have accused it of planning the rallies to capitalize on a Hindu-Muslim divide in the western state. The party denies the charge. The BJP had planned the rally two months ago but called it off under pressure from Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpaye.