TOGADIA’S MUTINY
Narendra Modi and Pravin Togadia fell out in 2003, privately accusing each other of ideological betrayal. But the reasons behind the split were more personal than either man was prepared to admit. Modi had been Gujarat chief minister for a yearand-a-half by then. Togadia, a surgeon, had worked with Modi in 1984 when the latter was an RSS pracharak in Ahmedabad district. They went back a long way.
Modi had joined the BJP in 198687, around the time Togadia became the head of the Gujarat branch of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP). Together they played key roles in the BJP’s expansion in the state. Their first public disagreement was not till 1998, when Togadia chose to support then chief minister Keshubhai Patel, who Modi opposed. That tiff was apparently smoothed over. But when Modi became chief minister, it became apparent that Togadia and the VHP were to be kept on the margins. Togadia became bitter, estranging himself further from Modi.
On January 16, Togadia, the VHP president, disappeared in Ahmedabad for an entire day. He was found unconscious by the roadside and admitted to hospital for low blood sugar. He alleged that he had been kidnapped and that the orders had come from Delhi. He also claimed to be afraid for his life.
Ahmedabad police denied any threat to Togadia, who has Z-plus security. Manmohan Vaidya, senior leader and RSS spokesman who himself has had differences with Modi, also scoffed at Togadia’s tale, asking how his kidnappers could have bypassed the security detail. His scepticism is shared by others in the RSS.
The RSS has had recent trouble with Togadia, and had reportedly sought to replace him as VHP president only to back down when he threatened to form a splinter group. Perhaps sensing Togadia’s mutinous mood, Hardik Patel and former Gujarat Congress chief Arjun Modhwadia visited him in hospital. On social media, pro-Modi posters began to claim Togadia was in league with the prime minister’s enemies.
In 2016, senior BJP leaders, insiders say, tried to broker a truce between Modi and Togadia. Modi appeared uninterested. Perhaps a nervous RSS will now take on that task.