Unfazed by Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee's attempts to tone down the Hindutva issue, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad on Wednesday asserted that it will not allow the Bharatiya Janata Party to budge "even an inch" from the ideology.
VHP international general secretary Pravin Togadia cautioned the BJP against taking his organisation for granted.
Togadia said in Pune: "On the stand of Hindutva, we will not hesitate to confront even our Bhishma Pitamaha." Asked if the 'Bhishma Pitamaha' he was referring to was Vajpayee, he said, "It is best if this is left for the people to guess.
"We want to make it clear that we will not be bonded labourers for any party. We will remain committed to the cause of Hindutva."
He said that the ideologies of Shyamaprasad Mukherjee and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay were being diluted.
"It will be best if the BJP returns to the ideology of Shyamaprasad Mukherjee and Pandit Deendayal Upadhyay while the Congress returns to the ideology of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel," he said.
On Vajpayee's reported statement that the question of making India a Hindu Rashtra, as envisioned by the VHP, did not arise since it already was one, Togadia said, "We are thankful to the prime minister for that statement. We take it as an endorsement of the VHP's vision. The prime minister's statement has made our work considerably easier. Half of our work is done."