How Pravin Togadia escaped is a matter that needs significant investigation

VHP supporters used to flaunt their connections with the Gujarat government and offer their services to investors in Gujarat for a small fee

It is the Bharatiya Janata Party’s (BJP’s) worst-kept secret that Narendra Modi and Pravin Togadia of the Vishwa Hindu Parishad (VHP) enjoy an ambivalent relationship. The two were the best of friends at one time, with Togadia boasting in 2002 that: “Narendrabhai is riding the horse, but the reins are in my hand.”

During Modi’s second term as chief minister of Gujarat (2002-07), there was nothing private about Togadia’s ambitions. “I was offered chief ministership of Gujarat twice by the sangh parivar,” he declared once, revealing that plans were afoot to create a political formation to “take care” of the interests