New Delhi: Their names were once synonymous with the growth of Hindutva in Gujarat. Narendra Modi and Dr Pravin Togadia (used to attend RSS shakhas together in Ahmedabad in the 1980s.They were the rising hawks in the parivar who were often seen together at Hedgewar Bhavan in Maninagar, the Sangh’s headquarters in what is now Modi’s assembly constituency in Ahmedabad.
On Wednesday, VHP chief Praveen Togadia opens up a front against the Modi government. Adressing the Media Togadia Said, “It’s time since we have had a warm heart to heart talk (Directing Towards PM Modi), which we used to continually & closely do from 1972 to 2005. Don’t know about you now, but, yes, I do miss those nice days. We both worked jointly in sync on many issues that arose time to time about Gujarat, Bharat & even in your life. Your coming to my home, VHP office at Paladi Karnavati (Ahmedabad), our eating lunch dinner Nashta together with many cups of Tea & our hearty laughter. i haven’t forgotten anything; l am sure, even you must not have forgotten all that either. Bhai, you recall? During Emergency, we would do wall painting at nights, writing, ‘Andhere mein 2 prakaah, Atal Bihari, Jai Prakaash”.
“As close friends & you as my ’Mota Bhai’ (elder bro), we used to discuss so many things so warmly; sometimes we may not have agreed on a particular point of view but we would debate, discuss it on many cups of Tea & then have a hearty laugh. We stood by each other, for each other up to 2002 or almost 2005 & after that it just vanished in the thin air, somewhere & i still cannot fathom why, how, who on earth caused it… Obviously it was not either you or l as we shared a very long & extremely thought provoking & warm solidarity. In 2002, over 300 Hindus were killed by Gujarat police’s bullets & more than thousand were stuffed to various jails, who are still there & after that too we had a dialogue which got thinned soon”, added Togadia.
