Pressure on Bharatiya Janata Party to toe Hindutva line

New Delhi : As it senses an opportunity to take power at the Centre, BJP is coming underpressure from allied saffron outfits to spell out its commitment to the Hindutva agenda, in what can have repercussions for its ties with other NDA partners.

At a meeting with BJP and RSS leaders, Vishwa Hindu Parishad told BJP that the party should renew its pledge to build a Ram temple at Ayodhya, besides aggressively attacking the Congress-led Centre over the alleged effort to malign the Hindu community by raising the bogey of "Hindu terror", and for pushing the Communal Violence Bill.

Sources familiar with the deliberations said VHP leaders, led by the veterans of Ram Janmabhoomi campaign Ashok Singhal and Praveen Togadia, stressed that the BJP should not dilute the focus on Hindutva issues for the sake of appeasing the sensitivities of NDA partners: a pitch which was seen as directly aimed at JD(U) and its leader, Bihar chief minister Nitish Kumar, who appears to have riled the Sangh Parivar by what the latter calls his "agenda-dictating tactics".

Sources said BJP chief Rajnath Singh and other party leaders did not object to the VHP's insistence: something which is significant in light of the view of many BJP leaders that the party should focus on governance instead of relying on Hindutva themes.

BJP leaders who attended the meeting included party veteran LK Advani, leader of opposition in Lok Sabha Sushma Swaraj, Murli Manohar Joshi, general secretary Ram Lal and others.

Sangh leaders Bhaiyaji Joshi and Suresh Soni represented the RSS at the meeting which was the first attempt after Singh took over as BJP chief to improve coordination between the Sangh Parivar affiliates ahead of the 2014 polls.

The development is significant also because of the fallout it can potentially have for who gets the Sangh Parivar's nod to be projected as BJP's candidate for prime minister in the 2014 polls. Sources said VHP's muscling its way into BJP's decision-making should act as a force multiplier for those clamouring for the projection of Gujarat CM Narendra Modi as the saffron mascot for 2014. They pointed out that Swami Dayanand Saraswati, head of Coimbatore-based Arsh Vidyapeetham Gurukul, and an influential figure among the Sant Samaj, has already come out in the open in Modi's favour.

Significantly, a section in the Sangh Parivar feels that Singhal may also back Modi.

Source : TOI