VHP trains guns on PM…

VHP president Ashok Singhal today said the VHP does not want to see a ‘‘secular’’ A.B. Vajpayee again as the Prime Minis...

VHP president Ashok Singhal today said the VHP does not want to see a ‘‘secular’’ A.B. Vajpayee again as the Prime Minister of the country. He also announced that the Parishad’s support (to BJP) in the next elections will be ‘‘conditional’’.

Singhal said here today: ‘‘Unke (Vajpayee’s) netritva mein desh kamzor hua hai, bhale hi performance ki drishti se kuchh achchha raha ho. Lekin aaj main clear karna chahta hoon ki jo Hindutva ka rasta nahin pakad sakte unhein hamara saath nahin (The country’s become weaker under Vajpayee’s leadership…. I want to clarify that we won’t back those who don’t choose the path of Hinduism).’’ He said it was the VHP which created the lehar of Hindutva in Gujarat or the BJP would have been a big failure there.

…and reminds Mulayam
of his ‘temple promise’

New Delhi: It may sound incredible, but it is true! The VHP plans approaching Samajwadi Party leader and UP Chief Minister Mulayam Singh Yadav to facilitate the construction of a Ram temple at Ayodhya. This was disclosed by VHP vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore while talking to The Indian Express here today.

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The VHP leader said: ‘‘He had told me last year — Acharyaji, I alone would get the Ayodhya temple built. It was a chance meeting at the wedding of the son of Rajasthan BJP president Vasundhara Raje. Now that he has become the chief minister, I would call on him one of these days and ask him to translate his words into action. Whatever opinion one may have about him, all concede that he stands by what he promises.’’

When asked what role he could visualise for Mulayam when the row could be resolved only by the Centre and the court, Kishore said: ‘‘He can persuade the Muslims to give up claim over the land. Also, the CM’s favourable attitude would be a help.’’ Regarding the police repression on kar sevaks during Mulayam’s chief ministership, he said: ‘‘He always said, ‘the Centre was against me, but why didn’t you take me into confidence about what you were up to?’ This time, we would keep him posted about our programmes.’’ ENS

Sighal, who is on a two-day visit to Jammu, said at a function that he doesn’t agree with Vajpayee on many points. He said: ‘‘Unki dikkat hai ki woh duniya ki nazron mein khud ki secular neta ki image kharab nahin hone dena chahte. Lekin mein bata doon ki nayi generation ke dil mein unke liye koi aadar nahin hai (He doesn’t want to spoil his image of a secular leader. But let me tell you, the young generation doesn’t respect him).’’

He said Vajpayee committed the blunder of not handing over the Ram janambhoomi land to the VHP.

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Continuing his attack, Singhal said that Vajpayee wants to be prove himself as a secular in front of world. ‘‘Unhon ne Kashmir mein CMs ki meeting bulai yeh batane ke liye ki yahan (J-K) shanti hai. Unki itni bhi himmat nahin hui ki Jammu akar yahan ke Chief Minister ko yeh kahein ki woh visthapiton (border migrants) ka masla hal karein (He convened the CMs’ meet here to tell the world that everything’s fine here. But he didn’t dare to tell the state CM that the problem of border migrants needs to be tackled).’’

He said even this government has failed in providing dharmik azaadi to the Hindus. ‘‘We have only got political freedom and are still fighting for religious and cultural freedom,’’ he said.

Israel Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu addresses the 80th session of the United Nations General Assembly, Friday, Sept. 26, 2025. (AP Photo/Richard Drew)

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