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BJP won't be allowed to shift from Hindutva: VHP

Declaring his aim to make India a Hindu Rashtra in two years, Praveen Togadia said that Muslims' status in it would be that of the Hindus in Pak or "slightly better."

Updated on: Dec 20, 2002, 13:57:00 IST
PTI | By , New Delhi
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Buoyant over BJP's thumping victory in the Gujarat polls, a belligerent VHP on Tuesday said it will not allow the party to shift from the 'Hindutva' agenda in the state and declared its intention to make everyone acknowledge India as a 'Hindu Rashtra' in two years.

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The Sangh Parivar outfit's firebrand Secretary General Praveen Togadia also accused the Congress of speaking in the "language of Lashkar-e-Taiba and pre-partition Muslim league" and said the status of Muslims in the 'Hindu Rashtra' would be similar to that of Hindus in Pakistan or "slightly better."

"Elections in Gujarat were fought on the Hindutva agenda. We will not allow a shift to the NDA agenda," an aggressive Togadia said at his first press conference here after the Gujarat poll outcome.

Asked what he expected from the Narendra Modi Government, the VHP leader said, "We have been childhood friends. He knows what we want. Issues such as anti-conversion and fight against terrorism are already there in the BJP agenda."

He, however, ruled out any VHP role in Government formation in the state.

Clarifying his statement that India would become a 'Hindu Rashtra' in two years, which came for criticism from both RSS and VHP, Togadia said, "India can never be a theocratic state. It was and is a Hindu Rashtra but not everyone accepts it. We would make everyone in the country acknowledge it in two years."

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