ibnlive.com, 18 Dec 2007
Deepa Balakrishnan / CNN-IBN
RELIGIOUSLY SPEAKING: BJP's going all out to stir up the Hindutva sentiment in the state.
Bangalore: Saffron strongman C T Ravi lead a BJP-VHP delegation to the Raj Bhavan, seeking to carry on with Datta Jayanthi celebrations on December 22, and said, “I requested the Governor to perform Hindu pujas in Datta Peeta. We invited honourable Governor to visit and solve this long-pending issue."
It's in the Bababudangiri hills in Chikmagalur district that the Datta Jayanti is celebrated at the Datta Peeta, a cave temple, which incidentally, is also home to the dargah of Sufi saint Bababudan Saheb.
Since 1975, the Jan Sangh and BJP's attempts to assert its Hindutva agenda here have been severely curbed by both courts and the district administration.
Every year, the Datta Peeta is home to another round of controversies, communalism and saffron agendas. But this year is different.
It's less than six months for elections and the BJP wants to use this for politicking and power.
“Power or no power, Hindus are there, the shrine is there, the intentions are there… that'll continue,” says B N Murthy, VHP Secretary.
The Congress clearly feels there's a clear electoral agenda in the Hindutva war-cry.
“They're doing it just because elections are round the corner. They know they're fighting a losing battle, they don't have a chance,” says Prakash Rathod, Congress General Secretary.
The BJP may well embrace the Moditva mode of politics to extract political mileage; out of the place they label Ayodhya of the South.
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