Man in place, VHP to drive Home pet agenda

Elated at the induction of their very own Swami Chinmayanand into the crucial Ministry of Home Affairs, the VHP is hopeful that he will &#14...

Elated at the induction of their very own Swami Chinmayanand into the crucial Ministry of Home Affairs, the VHP is hopeful that he will ‘‘bridge the communication gap between the Parishad and the Government’’ and ‘‘build a conducive atmosphere to get the Ram temple issue solved.’’ Swami Chinmayanand is an important member of the VHP’s Kendriya Marg Darshak Mandal and was recently made the convenor of the coordination committee to contact MPs to lobby for the enactment of a legislation to hand over the disputed site in Ayodhya ‘‘to Hindu society.’’

The VHP is particularly happy because making a saffron-clad VHP man the Minister of State of Home marks not only a significant inroad of the organisation into the heart of the NDA Government, it also comes at a time when the VHP has made a shift in its campaign focus. The lack of any adverse reaction either from NDA partners or Opposition has further heartened the VHP.

Swami allotted key
divisions in Ministry

NEW DELHI: The newly appointed Minister of State for Home Swami Chinmayanand was allotted work on Wednesday in the ministry which included the Border Managament division and Northeast Division. The work was re-allocated among the various ministers of state following a meeting with Deputy Prime Minister L.K. Advani. The Foreigners Division and UTs Division remained with Harin Pathak who mainly holds charge of Ministry of Personnel. J-K division, internal security and centre-state division remained with I.D. Swami. Depts allocated to Chinmayanand include Disaster Management, Office of Registrar General of India, Freedom Fighters and Rehabilitation division. (ENS)

Speaking to The Indian Express, VHP central secretary and spokesman Veereshwar Dwivedi said: ‘‘We are happy because we feel he will be able to bridge the communication gap between the Parishad and the Government that has existed so far.’’

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The ‘‘communication gap’’ has lasted well over a year — the last time they cooperated was in March 2002 when a government official received a ‘‘consecrated’’ pillar from the VHP as a token gesture. The VHP’s efforts for the last few years was to pressure the Government to hand over the so-called ‘‘undisputed’’ land.

But following Supreme Court order declaring the entire area as disputed, there has been ‘‘a qualitative shift’’ in its campaign, Dwivedi said.

Elaborating, he said: ‘We hope this Parliament will bring the necessary legislation to hand over the land to the Nyas, or we will build a mass movement so that the next Parliament brings it.’’ The movement envisages contacting two crore people in July-September, and tying a rakhi-like thread on their wrists called the Ram Mandir Nirman Sankalp Sutra. A meeting of divisional heads has been scheduled in Ayodhya on June 9-10 where the details of the programme will be finalised. The programme, Dwivedi insists, ‘‘the most important public contact programme since the Ram shila pujan of 1989.’’

The VHP is also digging up L.K. Advani’s old speeches to buttress its demand for a legislation to hand over the site to the Nyas. Throughout his 1990 rath yatra, Advani maintained the dispute could be resolved either through negotiation or through legislation. It wants Swami Chinmayananda to remind the ‘‘deputy PM if not the PM’’ of those words and help push the campaign for Ram Temple.