Pravin Bhindranwale

The endlessly energetic Pravin Togadia, general secretary of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad, has emerged after a period of imprisonment, zeal and passion obviously intact, to address yet another trishul deeksha rally — this time in Delhi. His choice of venue is significant. The fact that he chose the Capital to make loudly provocative denunciations not only of the Congress and Sonia Gandhi but also Vajpayee shows that Togadia’s delusions of grandeur are becoming so overpowering that he believes taking the prime minister publicly to task is one of his main missions.

He has called Vajpayee a ‘‘Tendulkar’’ who has completed a century in his offers of peace with Pakistan. He has also continued to pour scorn on the government for being anti-Hindu. Yet, however vociferously Togadia’s supporters may distribute the trishul, however hysterically they may drape themselves in saffron and scream out divisive slogans, the important fact about the Delhi rally is that very few senior leaders of the VHP were present on the dais with the raging general secretary. While it still cannot be said that the BJP leadership has been able to face the reality of Pravin Togadia squarely and issue a clear public denunciation against a man clearly intoxicated with the desire to become ‘Hindu hriday samrat’, yet criticism of his brand of politics is increasingly being heard in the top echelons of the Sangh. In fact, the Delhi rally provided the curious spectacle of the delusional demagogue with his band of fearsome youths appearing for the first time to be rather isolated.

Togadia poses a conundrum for the BJP. On the one hand, his violent campaigning style delivered resounding gains in Gujarat. But, on the other, there are no clear indications whether the Togadia model will replicate itself equally successfully in other states. It must also be recognised that while the central leadership of the BJP has stayed away from him and even voiced mild public criticism, the state unit in Rajasthan has completely supported the VHP’s trishul deeksha campaign. While Togadia takes on a certain Bhindranwale-style aura of an insane-sounding zealot, this is the moment for the ruling party to decide once and for all whether he should be used as a short term asset for votes or whether he should be treated as a serious liability for the future of India.