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Sadhus oppose Modi

AHMEDABAD: Under the banner of the ‘Hindu Dharma Raksha Sant Sammelan,’ sadhus connected with the Vishwa Hindu Parishad are up in arms against Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi.

At a parallel meeting, barely three km from Mr. Modi’s rally in Amreli in the Saurashtra region on Monday, the Sammelan accused him of having failed to protect the interests of Hindus, who overwhelmingly supported him in the 2002 Assembly elections. It decided to form a Hindu Suraksha Manch and invite all pro-Hindu parties to contest the December Assembly elections against Mr. Modi’s Bharatiya Janata Party.

Among others, the Bharatiya Jan Shakti Party launched by the former Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Uma Bharati, and the Bharatiya Jana Sangh, both virtually BJP branches, have accepted the invitation, it is claimed. While at the Amreli rally Mr. Modi stuck to his “development plank” and attack on the Congress, at the Surat conclave late on Sunday night, marred by a fire at a parking lot just outside the venue, the Chief Minister lambasted dissidents for their move to join hands with the Congress. “It was shameful for those who once worked for the RSS to take refuge in its bitterest enemy, the Congress.”

It is not clear how the fire, which occurred towards the end of Mr. Modi’s speech, broke out, but the BJP and the Congress are blaming each other for the incident, in which about 40 two-wheelers and a truck went up in flames.

State BJP president Purshottam Rupala said he could “clearly see the hand of frustrated Congressmen” in the fire to disrupt Mr. Modi’s meeting. The Chief Minister said it was an attempt to spread a scare among the people so that they would not attend BJP election meetings. But Leader of the Opposition Arjun Modhvadia said it was a “conspiracy” to win sympathy, and demanded a CBI probe or an impartial judicial inquiry.

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