For 30 minutes today, the Ajmer Central Jail witnessed high drama as VHP’s international general secretary Pravin Togadia walked out of prison and into the midst of a motley group of sloganeering VHP activists from Gujarat.Ignoring the fact that most of the crowd that showered rose petals on him was from Gujarat, Togadia first thanked the people of Rajasthan for their support during the ‘‘peaceful Hindu agitation’’. Then he said their struggle for a Hindu nation would continue. Jogi land next stop for trishuls Raipur: In the hot summers ahead of this election, Chief Minister Ajit Jogi will be sweating it out like his Rajasthan counterpart as the VHP moves to Chhattisgarh for trishul distribution. VHP state president Romesh Modi says: ‘‘Over one lakh trishuls will be distributed in Chhattisgarh in June.’’ The VHP has begun preparations for its six-day annual meeting to be held at Raipur. The event would set the tone for a Hindutva wave in the state that goes to the polls later this year. The VHP has invited Union Minister of State for Environment and Forests Dilip Singh Judeo. Judeo is identified with his Ghar-vapsi [deconversion] campaign in Chhattisgarh and Madhya Pradesh. Jogi says: ‘‘If VHP tries to pursue its communal agenda in Chhattisgarh, we will not remain mute spectators.” Ashwani Sharma 20 VHP activists arrested in Bikaner district Jaipur: The Rajasthan police claimed on Tuesday to have foiled a trident distribution function at Nokha in Bikaner district and arrested some 20 activists of the VHP and Bajrang Dal in this connection, a senior police official said here. The VHP could not hold its trishul diksha ceremony in the town as prohibitory orders under Section 144 were clamped and heavy police force was deployed since yesterday as a precautionary measure, the official said. Meanwhile, VHP leader Sadhvi Ritambhara arrived at Rajsamand where another trishul diksha and dharamsabha was scheduled later in the day, the official said. —PTI A week after he was arrested for his fiery speech and distributing tridents, a much subdued Togadia continued to harp on his Hindu nation agenda and said that the VHP would continue to distribute trishuls till the Ashok Gehlot government didn’t actually categorise them as a weapon.Of the eight days in jail, he said: ‘‘It was good,’’ pointing out that he had read three books while in jail — Bharat Gatha by senior journalist Suryakant Bali, one by Rafique Zakaria on communalism and a treatise on the Quran.Bolstered by the support extended by the BJP state chief Vasundhara Raje, VHP vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore and a line-up of party heavyweights, Togadia chose to give a speech right outside the central jail, standing on a tractor. Later, he clarified: ‘‘Our fight is not against the Congress.It is for our religious rights. We want a saffron BJP and also a saffron Congress. I recommend that the Congress rethink their strategy.’’ Togadia, his counsel and Vasundhara Raje spent the rest of the afternoon discussing Section 121 of the IPC which deals with ‘‘waging war against a state’’ and sedition. ‘‘This reminds me of the Emergency where people couldn’t speak freely,’’ Raje said. An unimpressed public prosecutor Zafar Ahmad Khan however believes he has a case. ‘‘Look at what the preamble of the Constitution says. It talks about a secular republic and Togadia is challenging that. We are confident that this will make them wary before they start out again. We have set a precedent.’’Meanwhile, the district courts are abuzz with the implications of the arrest and its fallout. The final word, from the man on the street was unanimous: ‘‘Every aspect of this drama is politically motivated. There is nothing more to it.’’
