With the Uttar Pradesh government going all out against VHP cadres headed for Ayodhya, the promised shows of strength failed to materialise at the VHP rallies in Lucknow and Delhi today. VHP vice-president Giriraj Kishore and secretary Rajendra Singh Pankaj were arrested in Lucknow but working president Ashok Singhal managed to sneak into Ayodhya. The police searched several places but couldn’t trace Singhal. Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani telephoned UP CM Mulayam Singh Yadav, who was in Bhopal, and advised him against adopting a ‘‘combatant’’ approach towards those headed for Ayodhya. Advani told Yadav to regulate the movement of Rambhakts and facilitate peaceful darshan at the temples in Ayodhya. He was quoted as having said that there was no point in a confrontation. Advani’s deputy, Swami Chinmayanand, told The Indian Express that ‘‘the arrests made by Yadav’’ had blocked ‘‘negotiations’’ to lower the temperature. ‘‘Those from the VHP who were in touch with us can no longer be contacted. They are out of reach,’’ he said. Chinmayanand blamed Yadav for ‘‘going back on his word’’ that he would allow the VHP hold a peaceful rally at Ramsevakpuram, 3 km away from the disputed site. ‘‘It is located on the Ayodhya-Faizabad bypass. No Rambhakt would have been required to enter the town.’’ He called for the release of all those arrested to rule out any confrontation. VHP general secretary Pravin Togadia, who was in Delhi today, said he would ‘‘guarantee peace’’ if the Government allowed normal movement of trains, buses and people and released VHP activists. The rally he addressed at the Ramlila Maidan failed to draw the numbers the VHP had claimed it would. RSS chief K S Sudarshan, after persuading Prime Minister Vajpayee to restore normal train services, issued a statement underlining that the Sangh ‘‘has extended its support to this programme with the commitment that it will be a peaceful and constitutional programme.’’ Sudarshan asked VHP leaders to ‘‘maintain utmost restraint in their aritculations and activities so that the programme passes off peacefully, enhancing the prestige of the movement as well as the organisations that are leading it.’’
