Once a friend of Modi, Togadia now accuses Centre of threatening him via IB

Vishwa Hindu Parishad's international Executive President Pravin Togadia was found unconscious in a hospital in Shahibagh locality in Ahmedabad late on Monday after being reported "missing" earlier.

The police said he was brought by people to a private Chandra- Mani hospital in an unconscious state, which the doctors claimed was caused by low level of sugar.

Togadia addressed the media on Tuesday and said- “I am being targeted for a decade old case, there is an attempt to suppress my voice. Rajasthan Police team came to arrest me. Someone told me the plan was being made to kill me in an encounter.”

“ I will keep fighting for Ram Mandir, and cow protection for ever,” he added.

Togadia said Rajasthan Chief Minister Vasundhara Raje and Home Minister Gulab Chand Kataria had assured him on that there was no police action underway against him.

"They told me 'they have not sent any police' and that 'if something like this would be happening we would have known it'... When I realised the CM and Home Minister are denying the police action, I switched off all my mobile phone so that my location could not be traced.... later I got to know that they (police) have come with an arrest warrant," he said.

Not a long ago, Togadia was understood to be very close to the now Prime Minister Narendra Modi

During 80’s Prime Minister Narendra Modi and Togadia were synonymous with the growth of Hindutva in Gujarat. They used to attend RSS shakhas together in Ahmedabad. They were the rising hawks in the parivar who were often seen together at Hedgewar Bhavan in Maninagar, the Sangh's headquarters in what is now Modi's assembly constituency in Ahmedabad.

The assembly elections in December 2002 saw Togadia address more than 100 BJP rallies. Things changed when Modi won. He dropped Zadaphia in a clear signal to Togadia that his interference in governance was no longer needed. Togadia felt he was used by Modi. Togadia was one of the few leaders kept in the loop by Advani when the decision was taken to make Modi chief minister in October 2001

Their relationship came under further strain when, under Supreme Court pressure, the Modi government was forced to reopen riots cases and start arresting VHP and Bajrang Dal workers.

A VHP leader of Gujarat reportedly said on condition of anonymity that recently a meeting of executive board of VHP held a meeting in Bhubaneswar. Praveen Togadia’s tenure as the international executive president of the VHP was coming to an end on December 31, 2017. The tenure of the president Raghav Reddy was also about to end. The RSS wanted V Kokaje to be the president but Togadia had strongly opposed it and insisted that Reddy should remain the president.

With inputs from IANS