VHP Leadership Impasse Worries RSS as Pravin Togadia Wants to Stay Put

New Delhi: With no compromise in sight, the persisting impasse within the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) is increasingly worrying the Rashtriya Sawayamsewak Sangh (RSS) as it works hard to avoid divisions in the organisation.

The RSS has not been able to bring about a rapprochement on the leadership issues in the VHP, which were triggered two months back at the Bhubaneshwar executive.

“The larger worry for the RSS is that VHP – along with the BJP – is the only other Sangh affiliate with a large mass base. Such leadership issues raise fundamental questions in an organisation which gives precedence to the institution than an individual,” says an RSS leader.

In the Bhubaneshwar executive of the VHP in December, matters came to head in presence of RSS second-in-command Bhaiyyaji Joshi. The RSS was apparently backing former Himachal Pradesh governor VS Kokje for the top post, while International Working President Pravin Togadia insisted on division.

“The result of the voting shocked the RSS top brass. Togadia could muster 23 votes as compared to three for the RSS-backed candidate. 10 members abstained. In a huff, it was declared that the current team would continue till the elections are ‘officially’ held later this year,” said another Sangh leader.

In fact, sources say that Togadia had prior information about his removal. Ahead of the meeting, he had a conversation in this regard with Bhaiyyaji Joshi in Orissa.

“But RSS thought that it would be able to oversee a change in VHP leadership without much resistance. What the Sangh did not take into consideration is that leaders working in mass based organisations develop a following of their own,” said a senior RSS leader.

Vishwa Hindu Parishad, although established in mid-sixties, gained traction two decades later when the RSS handed over the leadership to its then prant pracharak of Himachal Pradesh, Ashok Singhal. Senior RSS leader Modopant Pingle was also deputed to oversee its proliferation in the aftermath of Meenakshipuram Conversions of Dalits to Islam.

Sighal led the VHP during Ram Temple movement, and until the time he was around, his writ ran large in the organisation. After Singhal’s death, Togadia is seen to be the tallest leader within.

But Togadia, who hails from Gujarat, over the years has had his share of run-ins with the current leadership in the BJP.

With fourteen months left for the 2019 Lok Sabha elections, the decision to replace Togadia came as the Supreme Court also began hearing the Ayodhya title suit.

“Togadia was asked by the RSS to manage the Hindu-Helpline, aimed at helping members of the community in cases of emergencies. The showdown in Bhubaneshwar was a message from the Togadia camp about their support base within,” says an RSS leader aware of the developments.

The RSS’ annual general body meeting is slated to be held in Nagpur this year. Every third year, RSS in the Akhil Bhartiya Pratinidhi Sabha allocates work to pracharaks. The VHP issue may be taken up after the Sangh settles down after the ABPS, slated for the second week of March.