BHOPAL, 22 March 2003 — Praveen Togadia, general secretary of Hindu fundamentalist organization Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), has held the Congress responsible for “opening the locks of the Ram temple at Ayodhya and allowing the demolition of Babri Masjid there”.
Addressing a press conference here yesterday he said the Congress had launched the movement for the Ram Temple and the VHP had merely taken it over.
He said the undisputed land at Ayodhya should be handed over to VHP with full ownership rights for the construction of the Ram Temple. The Parliament must also enact a law to facilitate construction of the temple at Ayodhya, he added.
On allegations that the BJP played the Hindutva card in Gujarat, where it succeeded, and again in Himachal Pradesh, Togadia said neither he nor any other VHP leader had visited Himachal Pradesh before the assembly elections.
The Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) had won the Assembly elections in Gujarat by playing the Hindutva card, but failed miserably in Himachal while employing similar tactics.
He said VHP did not receive any contribution or donation from any foreign country, adding that the Nagpur unit of VHP had received some checks from abroad but were ordered to return them.
Meanwhile, Togadia has alleged that the Madhya Pradesh government had arrested Acharya Dharmendra, a prominent VHP leader, with an eye on the Muslim vote-bank. He demanded his immediate release. He said that Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Digvijay Singh should be prepared for a Hindu backlash.
Denying that there was anything “inflammatory” in Acharya’s speech, Togadia said VHP would go to the people’s court by playing a recording of Acharya’s speech all over the state on Monday.
Acharya Dharmendra was arrested on March 16 at Ujjain railway station following a case registered by Dewas police against him for allegedly making an inflammatory speech at Dewas.
