By IANS,
Ahmedabad : The Gujarat unit of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) will not campaign for the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the state, a senior leader said here Wednesday.
“The VHP as such does not officially announce its support for the BJP, being a ‘non-political’ body but had been supporting the party by providing its workers for the campaign work during the previous polls,” the leader told IANS on condition of anonymity.
“However, the events that took place in 2008, starting with the arrest of Gujarat VHP leader Ashwin Patel on charges of sending anti-Narendra Modi SMSes through his mobile phone and the demolition of about 100 small and big temples in Gandhinagar when VHP’s intervention pleas were not heard by (Chief Minister Narendra) Modi made us decide not to campaign for the party this time round,” he said.
The VHP leader also said that its sister organisation – the Bajrang Dal – will also not campaign for the BJP.
Both the organisations had provided its cadres to the party for campaign during the 2007 assembly polls.
“We have nothing against the BJP as a party but certainly oppose the neglect of our leaders by Modi. There is no question of campaigning for the party in the Lok Sabha polls unless the VHP’s central leaders asked us to campaign,” the leader said.
He said that during the 2002 assembly polls the VHP had worked very hard to ensure Modi’s victory by reaching to the masses in the most interior villages of Gujarat.
The Gujarat state BJP chief Purshottam Rupala, when contacted, refused to comment on the issue.