Posers to RSS-BJP boomerang on Hindu body chief

THE VHP AND THE RSS TOO ARE IN FAVOUR OF NOT PUSHING THE MODI GOVERNMENT ON THE TEMPLE ISSUE.

LUCKNOW: A day after plastering the walls of the state capital with posters questioning the BJP’s position on temple issue, controversial Chakrapani Maharaj arrived in Lucknow to hurl some more uncomfortable queries at the saffron brigade on Tuesday. However, some members of the Mahasabha questioned his claim to the post of the national chief of the Hindu body at the very same press conference where Chakrapani raised queries at the saffron brigade of BJP-VHP and the RSS.

As a result, Chakrapani was forced to leave the press conference midway. The anti-Chakrapani group then burnt down the posters that were put up by his supporters. Shishir Chaturvedi, a lawyer who claimed to be the state spokesperson for the Mahasabha, was among the most vocal in the protest against the Hindu body chief. “I wanted to know how he can call himself the national chief of the Hindu Mahasabha when his claim is under scrutiny,” Chaturvedi said later. Baba Nand Kishore Mishra, who belongs to the Mahasabha, too questioned Chakrapani who was earlier in the news for claiming that he received a threatening sms from underworld don Dawood Ibrahim. In the little time that he got to address the media, Chakrapani hurled charges at the BJP-VHP-RSS.

“Unless they live up to their temple promise, the BJP will suffer in the 2017 UP polls,” he said. His threat is hardly of any significance except to build the perception that there is a division in saffron ranks on the temple issue. Of late, even hardliners like state BJP chief Keshav Prasad Maurya have been playing down the temple issue, saying that the party would prefer to focus on development rather than the temple issue. Similar sentiments have been voiced by union minister of state for tourism Mahesh Sharma.

The VHP and the RSS too are in favour of not pushing the Modi government on the temple issue.