Sonia’s Tirupati trip raises VHP hackles

According to him, the temple had a long-standing tradition whereby non-Hindus were asked to sign a register before entering its premisers. “Because they are Christians, the mother-daughter duo of Sonia and her daughter Priyanka did not sign it and forcibly entered the temple,” he alleged.

Asked why the VHP was opposed to this when the temple management had refused to intervene, the Acharya replied: “The managemement was cowed down because of her influence. It could not raise any objection.”

According to him, when C K Jaffer Sharief, the then Railways Minister, went to Tirupati tohave a darshan of Lord Venkateshwara, he had to sign the register. “I fail to understand why Sonia did not do so,” he said.

Referring the report submitted by the three-member ministerial committee deputed by Prime Minister Atal Behari Vajpayee to have an “on-the-spot assessment” of the factors leading to the killing of Australian missionary Graham Stewart Staines and his two sons, the VHP senior vice-president said that their stand had been vindicated.

“We thank the members of the team,” he said, “In reality, the committee led by Defence Minister George Fernandes has reiterated whatever we have been saying all along. There is an international conspiracy to destabilise the BJP-led Government at the Centre.” The report submitted by the team, he maintained, had also clarified that the VHP-Bajrang Dal was not resonsible for the incident.