Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Pravin Togadia received the Laloo Prasad Yadav treatment today. When Togadia arrived in Patna to hoist the national flag at a Saraswati Shishu Mandir in the Muslim majority Phulwari Sharif, he was stopped at the airport and sent back by the same plane. There were only about 20 people to receive Togadia and they were stopped 2 km from the airport. He could not even meet the media as the Patna district administration reached the tarmac with a return ticket and a boarding pass for Togadia. Laloo Yadav said later: ‘‘If he ever comes to Bihar and create trouble, we will shut him inside Beur jail for anti-national activities.’’ ‘‘Yeh log jo nafrat fehlate hein, unke liye yahan koi jagah nahi hein,’’ added Laloo. While Togadia reached Patna from Mumbai around 9.30 am, the entire district administration — DM, SP and the SDO — had made Patna airport impenetrable. A huge contingent of police manned the surroundings. Passengers who landed in Patna had to walk out of the airport since the movement of vehicles was highly restricted. While he was on the last rung of the ladder, one step short of touching Bihar’s land, Pramod Kumar, an inspector from Patna’s Danapur police station stopped Togadia. He was handed over orders banning his entry into Patna. He was told he would be arrested if he didn’t obey. Togadia did not argue and read the papers standing on the ladder. ‘‘I know who is getting all this done,’’ he told the police, and tried to conceal his embarrassment in a smile. He was then handed over his return ticket and boarding pass with which Togadia climbed back. The police then rounded up his supporters. The decision to ban Togadia’s entry was taken at a high-level meeting of the chief secretary, DGP and the home secretary at the chief minister’s residence on Thursday. Late in the night, the SDO banned everyone except students and teachers from entering the Saraswati Shishu Mandir. He was scheduled to attend three more programmes in Patna. He VHP wants Laloo, who sent Togadia packing, to leave Bihar. ‘‘By his actions today, he exposed his Hindu virodhi, Ram virodhi, rashtra virodhi attitude. We are going to petition the governor. He has no right to live in this country,’’ said Raj Bihari, VHP’s organising secretary. When will Togadia come to Bihar again? ‘‘Pravinbhai will seek legal protection for his democratic right of entering and speaking in Bihar,’’ he said.
