By Rajeev Khanna, IANS
Ahmedabad : Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi, playing his favourite tune of hardline Hindutva in the assembly election campaign, must have missed fellow travellers this time – with the leaders of the ideological family refraining from coming out in his support.
Unlike the 2002 assembly elections that were held amid surcharged atmosphere in the aftermath of the train-burning tragedy at Godhra that year and the ensuing communal violence, the public meetings in the campaign that ended Friday evening were devoid of fiery speeches on sectarian lines and cheering cadres wearing saffron headgear, shouting slogans about ‘Hindu Rashtra’.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) and their affiliated organisations did not campaign for Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the crucial elections that will conclude with the second round of polling Sunday.
A visit to the VHP headquarters here was all it took to gauge the mood in the hardline saffron camp.
Unlike the frenzy in December 2002, no poll related activity was on in the office. A former spokesperson of the organisation declined to comment on the election scene, saying he was now merely looking after the publication of a VHP journal.
The only major programme the VHP cadres took up this week was a demonstration alongside Buddhists, protesting the alleged human rights violations in Tibet, on the International Human Rights Day Dec 10.
The VHP plans a mass mobilisation programmse in Gujarat on the issue of the Ram Setu or Adam’s Bridge, which is in the news after the central government’s plan to build a shipping canal in the sea between India and Sri Lanka.
But that programme will take off only after Dec 16 – when the polling is over.
Ask the cadres where the VHP’s firebrand international secretary Pravin Togadia is and the reply is that he is travelling across the country to garner support for the Ram Setu movement.
Togadia, who hails from Ahmedabad and was one of the leading campaigners for the BJP and Modi in 2002, remained outside the state during the campaign.
While a section of the VHP led by Acharya Dharmendra did campaign for the BJP and appealed to the Hindus to vote for Modi, they did so in the name of a Hindu organisation floated for this purpose and not under the VHP banner.
Gordhan Zadaphia, former minister of state for home, said: “None of the Hindu organisations on ground are working for the BJP this time. The sole reason behind this is that Modi has created a divide in all the organisations.”
Zadaphia, known for his links with VHP, quit the BJP, citing Modi’s allegedly autocratic style of functioning.
The RSS said it abided by its principle of not associating itself with any political activity and its cadres are informed enough to vote for suitable candidates.
Moreover, a section of Hindu saints who openly campaigned for Modi in 2002 this time turned against him and went to the public asking for his defeat.
But Modi’s supporters say they were out to defame him only because the chief minister had taken action against certain criminals among them.
During the last five years there have been a series of cases – murders, sex scandals and land scams – involving religious figures.
However, BJP spokesperson Prakash Javadekar said that barring a few disgruntled elements “most of the nationalistic-minded people” were campaigning for the party.