At the VHP’s three-day Ram mahayagna — which ended at Durg today — its international general secretary Pravin Togadia used both Ram and Hindutva to sell his political agenda.Perhaps realising that the BJP is not fit enough to fight Ajit Jogi on its own, Togadia, who has been concentrating on Madhya Pradesh for some months now, is devoting time to Chhattisgarh. So even as top BJP leaders ostensibly stayed away from the yagna, Togadia, who flew in this morning, tried ground work for the party, sparing neither Congress president Sonia Gandhi nor CM Ajit Jogi. He dubbed the Congress as an anti-Hindu party and called Sonia a symbol of anti-Ram forces. Warning to govt NEW DELHI: The VHP on Sunday vowed to ‘‘change’’ the A.B. Vajpayee Government in the next elections if it did not co-operate in the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya. VHP working president Ashok Singhal announced at a press conference: ‘‘We have the power to change the government if it does not hand over the undisputed land to us. (ENS) ‘‘I see strong possibilities of a Hindu backlash. The Congress will get wiped out for opposing construction of the Ram temple,’’ he predicted while speaking over the heads of VHP activists assembled at the mahayagna. Amidst slogans of Jai Shri Ram, Togadia walked through the town in a procession before he reached the venue and performed a few rituals.He said the VHP movement for construction of the Ram temple was progressing satisfactorily and those trying to stall it would not succeed. He said even within the Congress, several leaders were opposing Sonia’s anti-Hindu postures.On his arrival in Raipur, Togadia said the only option before the Congressmen to avoid a Hindu backlash was either to remove Sonia from the post of party president or get her attitude towards the Ram temple changed. ‘‘If the Congress takes an initiative and helps in passing the Ram temple Bill by Parliament, the party would regain some of its lost political ground,’’ he told mediapersons.‘‘It’s strange to note that the Congress till 1992 had never been seen as an anti-Hindu party but once Sonia took charge, the party saw an ideological change in it’s approach,’’ he alleged.Sending out a clear signal about Hindutva remaining an issue in the Assembly polls, he said: ‘‘Hindutva is not a regional issue. It has come into play wherever there’s repression.’’ He offered to campaign for the elections to see rout of the anti-Hindu forces.‘‘You have seen a (Narendra) Modi there. Now, I have another Modi (Ramesh Modi, the VHP chief) right here. We will work togather to repeat Gujarat in Chhattisgarh,’’ he declared.Accusing CM Ajit Jogi of conversions, Togadia claimed that in the past two years the activities of Church have got a big boost. ‘‘Sonia Gandhi had sent Jogi to Chhattisgarh with a clear agenda but we will not allow either to succeed in their gameplan,’’ he said.
