Liberhan effect: Singhal meets Modi at RSS behest

Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) chief Ashok Singhal called on Chief Minister Narendra Modi at his home here on Sunday.

While BJP leaders claimed the meeting was no more than a courtesy call,sources said it was at the behest of the RSS leadership,mainly to discuss the emerging broad contours of a joint saffron strategy to counter the Liberhan report,which had indicted leaders of the BJP,VHP and Bajrang Dal.

Before meeting Modi,the VHP leader had held parleys with the RSS and Bajrang Dal leaders in the state on Saturday,sources added.

Modi and the VHP have been at loggerheads post-2002 riots,with things reaching a flashpoint last year after the state government went on to demolish scores of small unauthorised temples in Gandhinagar for civic development,overriding VHP and Bajrang Dal protests.