BJP confused over its own issues: Ritambhara

When reached over the telephone from here last night, Ritambhara, former chief of the VHP women’s wing, Durga Vahini, told The Indian Express that she did not want to campaign for the BJP.

‘‘More so when the party is in a state of confusion (duvidha mein hai) over its own issues.’’ However, she said she was satisfied with the BJP’s commitment to the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.

Ritambhara said that the BJP was ‘‘not clear on the issues of the abolition of Article 370 and uniform civil code’’. She added that ‘‘unless these matters are sorted out, there can’t be goodwill and amity in the Indian society.’’ But, for the record, she felt that ‘‘the society is moving towards Hindutva’’.

She claimed that she had never participated in any election campaign — she was politically active only during the Ramjanmabhoomi movement. ‘‘I got involved because of the mission of the construction of the Ram temple at Ayodhya.’’

She said her real calling was social work and pursuit of religious moorings rather than politics. She added that she did keep herself informed about was happening in the country, but was ‘‘content serving orphans and battered women at my ashrams and following my faith as a sanyasin’’.

Ritambhara, whose anti-Muslim rhetoric at the height of the Ayodhya movement, could make even VHP leader Pravin Togadia’s sound mild, did not seem perturbed over the BJP’s overtures to Muslims. ‘‘It doesn’t look like that the BJP is trying to appease Muslims,’’ she said, adding that ‘‘the policy of appeasement was, in fact, followed by other parties which did not give them anything in return’’. If the BJP made efforts to bring Muslims into the national mainstream, ‘‘it is good for the entire society’’, she said.

Asked if India is Shining, Ritambhara said, ‘‘India is shining indeed, but this shine is visible only along the highways.’’ She added, ‘‘One just has to travel two-three kilometres away from the highway to see the reality.’’ India, in her opinion, will shine ‘‘only when there is a smile on the face of the last man on the ladder, who is untouched by the progress around’’.