
On January 31, 2019, when the Akhil Bharatiya Akhara Parishad
(ABAP), representative body of various akharas, the militant orders of
Hindu monasticism, decided to boycott the Vishwa Hindu Parishad’s (VHP) two-day
“Dharma Sansad”, a shock wave ran through the Sangh Parivar, the Rashtriya
Swayamsevak Sangh-led conglomerate of Hindutva outfits. The decision was a
rarity; never in the past had ABAP openly tried to stop sadhus from attending
VHP events.
The new circumstances bewildered