Janab Vajpayee is Gujarat VHP’s latest feel-bad label

The BJP may have watered down its core issues but its feelers to Muslims has provoked anger from the VHP in its bastion, Gujarat. Reminding ...

The BJP may have watered down its core issues but its feelers to Muslims has provoked anger from the VHP in its bastion, Gujarat.

Reminding the party that it won Assembly elections in Gujarat, MP and Rajasthan without getting any Muslim votes, the latest issue of the Gujarat VHP mouthpiece, ‘Vishwa Hindu Samachar’ carries an article, titled ‘‘BJP working hard to revive almost-dead separatist Muslim politics.’’

Written by editor Kaushik Mehta, who is also the general secretary of the Gujarat VHP, the article takes potshots at Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee and Deputy Prime Minister L K Advani.

Calling him ‘‘Wazir-e-Azam, Janab Vajpayee,’’ the PM is criticised for saying that Indian cricketers should try to win hearts in Pakistan, ‘‘as if they were responsible for breaking their hearts.’’

‘‘The old BJP leaders, are trying to portray themselves as mahatmas and deliberately lending credence to Muslims in politics and vitiating the country’s atmosphere,’’ says the article.

As for Advani, the article says that he invited a priest from Ajmer Sharif to flag off his Bharat Uday Yatra instead of seeking the blessings of the Shankaracharya amid chanting of ved-mantras.

‘‘When the new BJP adopted the Gandhian pattern for social reconstruction, people gave them only two seats, but when the Bharatiya Janata Party adopted the Hindutva stance their numbers in the Parliament grew from two to 200,’’ says the article.

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The article showcases photographs of Arif Mohammed Khan and Najma Heptullah, saying these people, who are opposed to the Ram Mandir and Hindutva, are being welcomed in the party.