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THE TELEGRAPH
SATURDAY 24 AUGUST 2002
NATION PAGE
Seer thorn in BJP election plan
OUR CORRESPONDENT
Vasan (Gandhinagar), Aug 23: A saffron clad seer has never haunted the saffron partry as much as Goverdhan Puri Shankaracharaya Swami Adhokshajanand Tirthji.
The presence of a seer, who is camping in the native village of Gujarat Congress President Shankarsinh Vaghela for several weeks now, is giving the BJP a tough time.
It was in this village that Vaghela, then a senior leader of the BJP in Gujarat, had devised a strategy to pull down the BJP government in 1995 when the party first wrested power from the Congress. Vaghela had eventually succeeded in his game plan.
This time around, Vaghela intends to rope in not just the Shankaracharaya but the entire brigade of sants and mahants from across Gujarat to counter the saffron party in the coming Assembly elections.
Although the seer has been invited to perfrom Rudramahayagna, it seems he has a bigger political agenda on hand. And he makes no bones about his dislike for the VHP, the Bajrang Dal and the BJP which he equates with the Muslim league that had divided the nation.
If these,"devil forces" have to be stopped, Vaghela fels, sadhus will have to play a pro-active role. There are five lakh sadhus in the country and if they become active, they can bring about a spritual revolution and restore harmony , he says.
Come September 10, the Shankaracharaya will direct sadhus and mahants to mobilise youths to get rid of "sinners and monsters" by overthrowing the BJP government.
The shankaracharaya will host a meeting of the National Pratinidhi Sabha of sadhus representing all sects , where the sadhus will be assigned specific roles. " We will announce our programme after the meeting, which will be a turning point in the history of Gujarat," said the Shankaracharaya.
Expectedly, the VHP is unhappy with Tirthji for accepting Vaghela's hospitality . Vaghela is the chairman of the Vasanta mahadev temple , which has invited the seer to perform the yajna.
"He is not a Sankaracharaya, he is just a fraud who is serving the political interest of some politicians. The real sankaracharaya of Puri is Swami Nishchalanandji" said VHP international secretary Pravin Togadia.
Tirthji retorted, Those involved in the killing of innocent people are a blot on the name of Hindus and they are insulting Hinduism which they do not understand. They are actually criminals."
Referring to the BJP's so-called "Hindu laboratory"in Guajrat, Tirthji said he would not let the laboratory function. "we will crush it", he said, so that humanity does not suffer ever again.
Tirthji justified his coming to Gujarat saying that there was need for a "revolution" as calamaties had struck Gujarat because the ruler had broken the law of nature. It is the duty of the "dharamguru" to restore peace and harmony and "this is why I am here".
The VHP is also upset with Tirthji, who has been speaking of a new nyas to decide the fate of the Ram janambhoomi Babri Masjid that will "reject all those who have been using Ram Mandir for instigating communal violence,"
Togadia said he respected the Tirthji's freedom of _expression but added he should not call himself a Shankaracharya , which he is not.
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