The Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) International working president Pravin Togadia and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh general secretary Virjesh Upadhyay may face removal after their recent confrontational stance towards the Bharatiya Janata Party BJP brass and the government. In addition, VHP international president Raghav Reddy too is on the list of people who are to be sacked. It was reported that senior RSS functionaries were displeased with the way the mentioned three embarrassed their government by following their own agenda. They also deem that the huge cadre base of the two organizations has not been utilized to for the propagation of the Sangh ideology.
It is speculated that there will be a VHP executive meeting by the end of February 2018. In this meeting, the RSS officials will request for an election to choose a new president who will replace Raghav Reddy and his fellow supporters Togadia and Upadhyay. The ‘pratinidhi sabha’ – the Parivar’s top decision-making body of VHP has planned a meeting for March; a new VHP may be elected before the meeting.
Some sources say that the RSS brass is fixated on easing out all those who opened a front against the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) including Prime Minister Modi. The Sangh intends to sort out all confrontations between front organizations and the government. It is keen to ensure that differences are sought out amicably. The bigger picture is that the structural changes in the two organizations had become unavoidable to prevent any confusion among cadres well in advance of the upcoming 2019 general elections.
The most recent incident involving Togadia only made matters worse than they already were (Togadia alleged a plot to kill him in a police encounter). Togadia and Upadhyay have frequently poorly represented the Centre and the BJP leadership by speaking against Modi’s government.
I the last executive committee meeting, a failed attempt was made by the RSS to ring in changes in the VHP brass. The senior Sangh functionaries suggested that Raghav Reddy be replaced by former Himachal Pradesh governor V S Kokje. Unfortunately for them, Reddy and Togadia’s supporters got the upper hand, and Reddy was allowed to continue leading until a full-time international president was elected. It is rumored that Togadia, Reddy, and Upadhyay will be asked to step down in this second attempt by the RSS to remove the three members.
