Extreme right-wing groups gun for BJP

JAMMU: Announcements of right-wing groups to make J&K the “core issue” are giving sleepless nights to the state BJP. Leaders of these organisations have stepped up attack on the saffron party for “humiliating and insulting” people of Jammu while sharing power with the PDP for over three years.

Members of the newly formed outfit of Pravin Togadia protest in Jammu.

Dinesh Manhotra

Tribune News Service

Jammu, August 10

Announcements of right-wing groups to make J&K the “core issue” are giving sleepless nights to the state BJP. Leaders of these organisations have stepped up attack on the saffron party for “humiliating and insulting” people of Jammu while sharing power with the PDP for over three years.

The BJP leadership is worried as these groups have launched an aggressive campaign against the party ahead of the Lok Sabha elections by roping in radical groups, including some disgruntled leaders of the Sangh Parivar, to “expose the anti-Hindu agenda” of the saffron party.

The first-ever convention of the Akhil Bharatiya Hindu Mahasabha held at Jammu on July 29, which was attended by ultra right leaders from across the country, was dominated by anti-BJP rhetoric, where all speakers dubbed the BJP as the “No.1 enemy” of Hindus and exhorted people to “teach the party a lesson” in the coming elections.

Ravi Ranjan Singh and Maj Ramesh Upadhyay (retd) of the Hindu Mahasabha, Sudhakar Chaturvedi of the Hindu Yuva Vahni, Swami Prakashanand and other Hindu leaders addressed the convention. Sadhvi Pragya Thakur was also scheduled to participate in the convention, but her programme was cancelled at the eleventh hour.

After enjoying power in J&K for the first time, the state unit of the BJP is hesitating to take a clear stand on contentious issues. Ultra right groups like the Hindu Mahasabha and Antarrashtriya Hindu Parishad — the new outfit formed by formerVHP leader Pravin Togadia — are availing all opportunities to “expose” the BJP for taking a “dubious” stand on the issues related to Hindus.

Togadia’s new outfit has already set up its state unit by roping in hardcore Hindu leaders and some disgruntled Sangh Parivar leaders. The outfit is on the job to set up district and tehsil committees before the Lok Sabha elections.

The ongoing controversy over Article 35A has given an opportunity to groups to corner the BJP for befooling people by not taking a clear stand on the issue.

Ahead of the urban local bodies elections, the Hindu Mahasabha has announced its unit for Kathua and Samba districts for fielding its candidates. It is especially focusing on Samba and Kathua districts, which are considered strongholds of the BJP, to make inroads into the region by aggressively raking up religious issues.