Art of duel: Diggy dares Modi to chase him again

In the midst of a big turnout of BJP heavyweights from Bhairon Singh Shekhawat to L.K. Advani, plus party leaders of TDP and JD (Secular), Singh was the seniormost Congress presence.

And a terse one, who spoke the least but sat extremely straight on the dais with Shekhawat and Advani, coolly observing the near-hysteria of ashramites at the inauguration of a new mantap on Saturday.

Singh arrived in Bangalore with Narendra Modi’s threat to campaign against him in the coming MP elections resounding in his ears. But he seemed unfazed. ‘‘He has campaigned against me before. Let him do so again,’’ he says.

‘‘The BJP’s brand of spiritualism cannot sustain itself. I too am a Hindu and am attached to my faith. Religion is a personal thing and spirituality is beyond religion. My religion never taught me to hate others,’’ he adds.

On calumnies spread against Indian Muslims, Singh says: ‘‘It is factually incorrect that Muslims each have four wives and many children. Many Hindus have several wives, much more than Muslims. It will take thousands of years for the Muslim population to ever catch up with Hindus in India.’’

The socially helpful steps he says he has taken to bring the community into the mainstream include forming the Madarsa Board to modernise madarsas by giving grants to those schools which support a modern education.

Of the “Hindu” events that he looks forward to, meanwhile, is the forthcoming Kumbh Mela at Ujjain for which new ghats are being built.

How does Singh expect Hindus to stick up for their faith without hurting other communities? “By aggressively practising moderation, inclusion and community building! By educating communities and raising levels of awareness and mutuality,” he says firmly, before setting forth to discourse on this method as his take on “Spirituality and Sustainable Development”.