Congress wooing VHP elements

The infamous dirty tricks department of the principal opposition Congress party is at it again. With an eye on the upcoming prestigious state assembly polls in Gujarat, the party is in the process of using the shoulders of Hindu saints to shoot at the pro-Hindu Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) that rules both the centre and the state.

The Congress party is currently working behind the scene to split the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP), which along with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) provides grassroots support to the BJP.

The game plan is to get the disgruntled elements within the VHP to revolt against its leadership so that the VHP gets bogged down and is unable to concentrate on Gujarat.

It has already brought together some Hindu saints of Ayodhya in Uttar Pradesh who have floated a parallel organisation that held its fist meeting in the holy town on Thursday.

The idea is to let this new organisation take the wind out of the VHP sail and take charge of the ongoing movement for construction of a Hindu temple in place of the 16th century Babri Mosque demolished by Hindu activists in December 1992.

Although the Congress party officially denies any role behind floating a new organisation to lead the Ayodhya movement, the presence of two middle-level Congress party functionaries, lawmaker R.K. Anand and socialite Nafisa Ali, at Ayodhya is significant.

According to party sources, they were deputed by the party central leadership to provide all necessary back-up to the new organisation.

The new organisation has already floated an idea to resolve the Ayodhya dispute. It intends to involve the local Muslims of Ayodhya and nearby Faizabad and has offered alternative land to them to construct a new mosque inside Ayodhya at their own cost, with the condition that the local Muslim community not only withdraw its opposition to construction of a new temple at the disputed site, but also take active part in it.

It is primarily aiming to cash in on the resentment of the local Muslims who are fed up with the frequent disruption of normal life and business every time the Ayodhya dispute hots up.

According to Congress party sources, with the goodwill of local Muslims with them, the saffron clad members of the new organisation will be despatched to Gujarat to campaign against the BJP.

It not only expects to split the Hindu voters of Gujarat but also try to get the Muslim voters to vote for the Congress party.

Members of this new organisation, tentatively named Vishwa Hindu Dharma Raksha Samiti, were introduced to Congress party president Sonia Gandhi recently.

Party general secretary Ambika Soni is the behind-the-scene go-between for the party and the disgruntled Hindu saints, although veteran Arjun Singh is the author of this plan.

Defeating the BJP in Gujarat will be a big boost for the Congress party in the run-up to the 2004 general elections in the country, since Gujarat is considered a stronghold of the BJP.

Polls in Gujarat are already due after the state assembly was dissolved in July, seven-and-a-half months ahead of schedule at the behest of the ruling BJP.

However, the Election Commission has poured cold water on the BJP's plan to cash in on the communal sentiments prevailing in the wake of the recent riots in the state by saying the situation is not conducive for holding a free and fair election.

The Supreme Court, which is currently discussing a presidential reference on the constitutional crisis that the Election Commission's stand is likely to create, will take a final decision on the Gujarat polls.