| Published on 10-12-2007 In National |
| Viewed 1118 times |
| Togadia and Singhal perform the disappearing act, not the Acharya |
|
|
Written by
Girish Nikam |
Heard of Acharya Dharmendra? That effeminate bare-bodied, flowing well groomed long haired, Sanyasi( or so he claims)? For a seemingly jittery Narendra Modi, the Acharya has come as the much-needed fairy to help him in his time of need. The Acharya happens to be the only one among the Vishwa Hindu Parishad's "pantheon" of leaders who have decided to come to the rescue of Modi. The aim: help Modi in creating a fear among the hindus in Gujarat about the "muslim invasion" if Congress comes to power!
Remember Dr.Praveen Togadia? The International General Secretary of VHP, who in the 2002 election blazed the length and breadth of Gujarat polarizing the already polarised hindus, with his fiery speeches which did not even spare Mahatma Gandhi? Well, he and Modi, thick as thieves then, have now fallen out. And he is nowhere to be seen on the campaign scene. Incidentally he was in Kolkatta yesterday leading a Ram Sethu Yatra, and attacking West Bengal Chief Minister Buddhadeb Bhattacharya for his apparent anti-Ram remark. Onviously, Togadia doesn't want to be seen even on the same geographical area as Gujarat, when the elections are on, and therefore has headed east!
Ashok Singhal-- remember him? The hot-headed President of the VHP who in the last election had been one of the fiercest allies of Modi? He is also nowhere on the scene. A VHP source even confirmed just today here, that both Togadia and Modi are not going to be campaigning anywhere in Gujarat.
How did the Acharya then decide to break ranks and come to the aid of Modi? It is still a mystery. But he was at his vitriolic best( or is it worst?) on Friday night in one of the key constituencies in South Gujarat, Surat(North), addressing a street corner rally, under the banner of "Rashtriya Jagran Manch", with half a dozen other bearded unrecognizable Sadhus.
The constituency chosen for him was significant as it is here that Modi fears a setback, as his old friend now turned foe, Dhirubhai Gajera is contesting on a Congress ticket.
Considered a BJP fort, there are fears in the saffron camp that it may be broken this time around. Acharya therefore did not leave any stone unturned to remind the 2,000 odd crowd late in the night, about their dedication to the cause of hindutva. "If you believe in hindutva, which I know all of you do, you have to back a Hindu and that means you have to back Narendrabhai Modi". And he not so subtly reminded, the "dangers" of Congress forming the Government---- psst psst----the muslims will then start stroking their beards again!
The language and the intention was unmistakable--- and no one mistook it also. "If only they had sent people like the Acharya earlier, not one person in this constituency would have voted for Congress", a strong BJP middle class supporter, with glee in his eyes and excitement in his voice over what he had heard, asserted. Apparently it was the first day out on the streets for the Acharya and he has very little time left before the first round of polling on Dec.11, to achieve his task(!). "He should hold eight to ten meetings a day all over", the Modi loyalist pleads to no one in particular.
Is it too little too late? One cannot say, but the last minute effort is on to instill all over again the hindutva pride and the hate muslim feelings among the electorate. But surely the Modi loyalists are badly missing Togadia and Singhal. And there lies a tale, which will have to be hold after the results on Dec.23 |
|
|
|
|
| Social Web |  |
| |
|
|
| |
Processing please wait ...
Top Stories
