BJP joins religious leaders and VHP over Ram Setu

NEW DELHI: After its unsuccessful Hindutva campaign in Uttar Pradesh, the BJP has joined religious leaders and the VHP in their planned movement against a ship canal project over what is believed to be an undersea man-made bridge linked to the Ramayana.

Senior VHP leader Rajendra Singh Pankaj on Saturday said the Ram Setu Raksha Manch, which consists of top Hindu religious leaders, would be extending invitation to all social, religious and political groupings for a massive rally it plans to hold in Delhi on May 27 against the Sethu Samudram project in the Palk Bay.

Messages of BJP chief Rajnath Singh and senior party leader Murli Manohar Joshi, along side those of the Hindu Dharam Acharya Sabha's Swami Dyanand Saraswati and Akhil Bharatiya Sant Samiti leader Swami Hansdas, were printed on the Manch's invitation for the rally.

The BJP's deputy leader in the Lok Sabha, Vijay Kumar Malhotra, and former Delhi Chief Minister Saheb Singh Verma appeared in the member-list of the Manch.

In Uttar Pradesh, the party's tally in the assembly elections has dropped despite its high-pitched RSS-backed campaign over Hindutva and law and order issues.

The Sangh Parivar is demanding realignment of the Sethu Samudran project, claiming it would damage the undersea bridge, believed to have been built by Lord Ram, if executed as per the original plan.