Zeenews Bureau
Allahabad: Although senior Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) leader Ashok Singhal has openly backed Narendra Modi as BJP’s prime ministerial candidate, the jury is still out on whether the VHP will formally name the Gujarat Chief Minister as its choice for 2014.
All eyes are on the ‘Dharma Sansad’ that is currently underway, Thursday, at Kumbh city in Allahabad which is being attended by top leaders of the RSS, VHP and other religious heads.
While Singhal’s support for Modi is being seen as an attempt by the VHP to mend ties with him given the increasing clamour in his support, other leaders in the VHP, most notably Praveen Togadia, have not yet spoken on the issue.
Singhal recently said that Modi is as popular as India’s first Prime Minister JL Nehru; however, Togadia has been categorical that he will not talk about one person or one party.
Though Modi has not been invited to the RSS-VHP meet at the Maha Kumbh Mela in Allahabad, the firebrand politician has been at the core of the deliberations, reports said.
Despite being a RSS product, the relations between the Gujarat Chief Minister and the VHP have been edgy till recently owing to the perceived cold war between Modi and Togadia over the erosion of once strong base of VHP in Gujarat.
First Published: Thursday, February 07, 2013, 10:00