Eye on LS election, Bhagwat holds parleys with seers in Haridwar

Neena Sharma

Tribune News Service

Dehradun, June 27

In a major initiative towards bringing the saints together in support of the BJP ahead of the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat held extensive consultations with seers at aHarihar ashram on Wednesday.

The meeting held two days after the BJP national president Amit Shah met Dr Pranav Pandya and other saints in Haridwar. Sources in Haridwar say the expulsion of VHP international working president Pravin Togadia has also divided the saint community in Haridwar. Bhagwat’s visit is aimed at strengthening its grip on the seers who seem to be divided after Togadia’s expulsion.

“Togadia has a huge support base among the seers in Haridwar, especially after his activism during the Ram janmabhoomi temple campaign, which later helped the BJP. But he quit the VHP after differences with Modi. Naturally, the RSS is worried about the fallout,” said a RSS pracharak.

Further, Togadia, who has floated a political outfit called the Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad, along with other saints, has expressed unhappiness at the slow pace of development on the Ram temple issue and even threatened to launch a stir. Mohan Bhagwat met Acharya Balkrishna, Dr Pranav Pandya of Gayatri Tirath Parivar, Acharya Mahamandaleshwar, Avdheshanand Giri and other prominent seers of Haridwar.

After Allahabad, Haridwar is the most important headquarters of saints and the BJP and the RSS do not want to slacken their hold on this vital support that could make a huge difference to the results of the Lok Sabha elections in 2019.