Praveen Togadia returns to haunt PM Narendra Modi, launches new hardline Hindutva party

Ousted Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia, once a confidant of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, has launched his own political outfit, AntarRashtriya Hindu Parishad (AHP), which he says will present itself as an "Hindu alternative" to the Bharatiya Janata Party ahead of the next elections.

"The Modi government has failed the Hindu community, which stood solidly behind it during 2014 elections. They have failed to build the Ram Temple in Ayodhya. They haven't kept their promise of abolishing Article 370 and 35A in Kashmir. Kashmiri pandits are still waiting to be resettled in the Valley," Togadia said during his address at the party's inaugural function in New Delhi.

A former cancer surgeon and a contemporary of Narendra Modi in Gujarat politics, Togadia went on to highlight in his speech that the Modi government had even failed to keep its promises to farmers and the youth of the country, who were reeling under indebtedness and unemployment.

"The PM had promised 10 crore jobs. He has failed the youth on that. To farmers, he guaranteed 1.5 times the Minimum Support Price. Not a single farmer in the country has received that benefit. We have farmers committing suicides on daily basis," Togadia said.

Outlining his party's expansion plans over the coming months, Togadia told media persons at a press conference later on that the party aimed to connect with 10 crore families across the country over the next four months. "Our aim is to get twenty crore signatures by October on our Hindu charter of demands. With those signatures, we will carry out something from Lucknow to Ayodhya in October. There will be something. You will see it," he said, without elaborating any further.

"We currently have 200 full-time workers. There will be another 1,000 full-time karyakartas over the next two months. On top, there are 1 lakh sympathisers backing our cause. Each of these part-time workers will be asked to get signatures of five Hindus daily. We have divided the country in 500 divisions, each of which will be assigned a campaign team," said the hardline leader.

This way, Togadia said, "We should be able to have 20 crore signatures, which will be our party's support base. The Hindu vote bank has been consolidated. We will present ourselves as a Hindu alternative," he explained.

During their speeches, other party leaders appealed to the workers from VHP, Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS), Bajrang Dal and other like-minded outfits to join Togadia's movement. Party leaders noted during their speeches that many of those present at the occasion had switched sides from the VHP.

"I have been a worker of the VHP all my life. Now, I am thankful to Pravin bhai for giving me a chance to lead this division. Our doors are open to everyone from the VHP and RSS," said Mala Rawal, general secretary of Ojaswi, the women's wing of the AHP. Several in the audience at the venue, many of who were ferried in buses from neighbouring Uttar Pradesh, claimed that they were also associated with the VHP and other outfits in their towns.

Togadia says his new political party will be even more hardline than Narendra Modi’s BJP

Explaining the "Hindu charter," Togadia  informed the media persons that a Parliamentary legislation demanding construction of not only Ram Temple, but also a Kashi Vishwanath Temple in PM's Varanasi constituency and a Grand Krishna Temple in Mathura, was a key demand of his outfit, besides passing of a national law banning cow slaughter, enforcement of Uniform Civil Code, freeing temples from government control and abolishing minority status for Muslims among others.

The former Vishwa Hindu Parishad President, booted out of the outfit by apparent backers of PM Modi, said that his new outfit would also aggressively pursue farmers' issues. "We demand 1.5 times the MSP and waiving off of all farmers' loans," he said, adding that the Modi government should also come up with pension for unemployed youth.

He further asked the government to cut down fuel prices by ₹43 straightaway. "What kind of government could think of making profit on petrol," he asked, mounting an attack on his former friend.

"We will back any outfit, be it Congress or the BJP, which supports our demands," said Togadia, adding that he was open to dialogue with any political outfit. "We will meet leaders from across spectrum. We would be banking on 20 crore people who support us," said Togadia, saying that he hadn't stopped speaking to PM Modi even after the Prime Minister had banished him from Gujarat for five years.

"He (Modi) didn't let me set foot in Gujarat, even then I wrote a letter to him inviting him for a talk so that we could sort out our differences," he recounted.

Togadia said he would travel to Lucknow on Tuesday and make another major announcement.