With the change of guard in BJP, VHP, which had been extremely critical of senior party leaders Atal Bihari Vajpayee and LK Advani, on Saturday sang an altogether different tune.
VHP not only termed the ties between the two organisations as "excellent" but also praised the "greatness" of the former Prime Minister.
"We have excellent relations. Ours is one Parivar (family) and at every level including district and block our two organisations share very sweet relations," VHP Supremo Ashok Singhal told reporters in New Delhi.
Singhal's remarks came a day after new BJP President Rajnath Singh visited the VHP headquarters and called on both him and its Senior Vice-President Acharya Giriraj Kishore.
Asked about the VHP's perception about the new party Chief, he said, "I have known him since his childhood. He has the capacity to take everyone along."
On VHP's vituperative attack on the BJP top brass in the past, Singhal charged the media with "blowing out of proportion the small differences".
Singhal, who had once attacked Vajpayee for "humiliating senior Hindu religious leaders including late Ramchandra Paramhansa, said, "you (media) cannot make or mar my relationship with him. You cannot imagine the depth of relations we have."
{{/usCountry}}Singhal, who had once attacked Vajpayee for "humiliating senior Hindu religious leaders including late Ramchandra Paramhansa, said, "you (media) cannot make or mar my relationship with him. You cannot imagine the depth of relations we have."
{{/usCountry}}"He is a great poet, litterateur," Singhal said.
However, when asked about the future of the ties between VHP and BJP, Kishore was more cautious and said, "it would be reciprocal".
Asked whether he was convinced that the new party Chief would pursue the path of ideology, he said, "let us wait and watch".
Both leaders, however, declined to comment on Advani.