The rift between Pravin Togadia, former international working president of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP), and Prime Minister Narendra Modi was an open secret. Togadia had been relentlessly criticising the BJP-led Union government over the Ram temple issue and the uniform civil code, causing much embarrassment to the sangh parivar. And, the red-faced saffron brigade struck. On April 14, his reign over the VHP came to an end when he resigned following the loss of his nominee, Raghav Reddy, in the organisation’s presidential polls. Former Himachal Pradesh governor V.S. Kokje won the election, which was held for the first time in 52 years. Following Togadia’s resignation, Kokje nominated advocate Alok Kumar as international working president.
Soon after quitting the rightwing organisation, Togadia announced an indefinite hunger strike in Ahmedabad. On April 16, a day before he began his fast, THE WEEK met the cancer surgeon at the VHP headquarters, from where he was overseeing last-minute preparations for the fast. Though he has quit the VHP, he still enjoys support among the workers—token fasts were held in Uttar Pradesh, Nagpur and Kerala. Edited excerpts from an exclusive interview:
Was it necessary to resign just because your candidate was not elected as president?
I did not resign; I was forced to leave the VHP. In the new team, I was not given any responsibility.
You are diabetic, and yet you are sitting on an indefinite fast.
This story is from the April 29, 2018 edition of THE WEEK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber ? Sign In
This story is from the April 29, 2018 edition of THE WEEK.
Start your 7-day Magzter GOLD free trial to access thousands of curated premium stories, and 9,000+ magazines and newspapers.
Already a subscriber? Sign In
Olympics, 2036: Host And Ghosts
The Indian Olympics Association (IOA) has sent the International Olympics Committee (IOC) its ‘letter of intent’ to host the Olympics in 2036—appositely enough the centenary of the very year, 1936, when Adolf Hitler hosted the Games in Berlin!
The female act
The 19th edition of the Qadir Ali Baig Theatre Festival was of the women and by the women
A SHOT OF ARCHER
An excerpt from the prologue of An Eye for an Eye
MASTER OF MAKE-BELIEVE
50 years. after his first book, Jeffrey*Archer refuses to put down his'felt-tip Pilot pen
Smart and sassy Passi
Pop culture works according to its own unpredictable, crazy logic. An unlikely, overnight celebrity has become the talk of India. Everyone, especially on social media, is discussing, dissing, hissing and mimicking just one person—Shalini Passi.
Energy transition and AI are reshaping shipping
PORTS AND ALLIED infrastructure development are at the heart of India's ambitions to become a maritime heavyweight.
MADE FOR EACH OTHER
Trump’s preferred transactional approach to foreign policy meshes well with Modi’s bent towards strategic autonomy
DOOM AND GLOOM
Democrats’ message came across as vague, preachy and hopelessly removed from reality. And voters believed Trump’s depiction of illegal immigrants as a source of their economic woes
WOES TO WOWS
The fundamental reason behind Trump’s success was his ability to convert average Americans’ feelings of grievance into votes for him
POWER HOUSE
Trump International Hotel was the only place outside the White House where Trump ever dined during his four years as president