Ashok Singhal compares Narendra Modi with Jawaharlal Nehru

LUCKNOW | ALLAHABAD: Comparing Gujarat chief minister Narendra Modi with India's first prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru, Vishwa Hindu Parishad leader Ashok Singhal on Wednesday said the public demand that Modi be made prime minister reminded him of Nehru.

"There was demand from the masses in the first general elections to make Nehru prime minister... I see a similar demand for Modi now," Singhal told reporters in Allahabad.

Singhal's statement came even as BJP national president Rajnath Singh was set to attend a meeting of the central advisory committee of VHP in Allahabad, amid reports that Narendra Modi's candidature for prime ministership will be discussed at a conclave during the ongoing Mahakumbh Mela. Modi is set to visit Allahabad next week, and take a ritual bath in the Ganga on February 12.

Meanwhile, some sects of ascetics have opposed the visit of Modi to the Mahakumbh, saying that the occasion is not a political one, and religious practices should not be politicised. Members of Sant Samaj Swami Adhokshajananda Kumbh said Modi should first apologise for the Gujarat riots.

Later in the day, VHP's Marg Darshak Mandal sought to revive the Hindutva agenda, calling for building Ram Mandir in Ayodhya. BJP president Rajnath Singh also reinforced the party's commitment to the Ram Mandir amid the gathering of a number of saints and seers from across the country.

Singh, who took a holy dip at Kumbh, said the Ram temple should come up at Ayodhya, and it was BJP's commitment to do so. He said BJP would stand by its commitment.