In a fresh salvo, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Praveen Togadia Friday alleged that some Bharatiya Janata Party leaders were behind making the CD, which showed party general secretary Sanjay Joshi in a poor light and he had to pay the price for his "strong stand" on the Jinnah issue involving then party chief Lal Kishenchand Advani.
"Whoever stood with ideology was viciously treated. Joshi had taken a strong stand on the Jinnah issue. So, he was ill treated. Now that he (Joshi) has passed the agnipariksha (test of fire) and is proven innocent, it is time to reinstate him with respect and punish the dirty minded, demonic, power-hungry criminals who got the CD made against their own colleagues," the VHP firebrand secretary general told PTI over phone from Ranchi, a day after the Madhya Pradesh police gave a clean chit to the BJP leader.
Earlier this week, VHP supremo Ashok Singhal had attacked Advani saying people had lost faith in him and the upcoming 'yatra' would not "achieve anything".
Shortly after Joshi's resignation in December, RSS ideologue M G Vaidya too had suggested in an article in RSS Marathi organ Tarun Bharat that some BJP leaders in Delhi and Gujarat were behind the CD.
Meanwhile, BJP president Rajnath Singh heaped lavish praise on Joshi saying he "has passed with 100 per cent marks in the agnipariksha.
While maintaining the party had faith in him and believed it was a conspiracy to defame him, Singh evaded any direct response to whether the party would reinstate him. "We will let you know", he said.
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