M A I N   N E W S

Yatra after elections, says Togadia

Ahmedabad, November 18
The VHP has decided to defer its “vijay yatra” from Godhra till the completion of the Gujarat Assembly elections, VHP international secretary-general Praveen Togadia said today.

“The yatra will not be taken up before the completion of the elections,” Mr Togadia told a news conference here this evening.

The decision comes a day after the Gujarat Government foiled the organisation’s effort to take out the yatra from Godhra.

He, however, said the organisation would launch a nationwide programme from November 25 to create mass awareness about the dangers of Islamic terrorism.

More than 2,000 saints and five lakh VHP activists would fan out to every nook and corner of the country, particularly the 18,000 villages in Gujarat, from next week, visit every house and play audio and video cassettes of speeches of Acharya Dharmendra and Mr Togadia as part of the programme.

Besides, on every “purnima”, Shri Ram yajnas would be organised across the country to pay condolence to the victims of the Godhra carnage, he said.

NEW DELHI: Unfazed by the failure of the yatra, the VHP vice-president Acharya Giriraj Kishore described the elections in the state as a “war” and said it would “do anything” to ensure the victory of “pro-Hindu forces” at the hustings. UNI