Pravin Togadia

Some Lesser Known Facts About Pravin Togadia

• He has been the International Working President of the Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) since 2011.

• At the age of ten, he shifted to Ahmedabad and joined the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) later.

• After getting the degrees of MBBS and MS in surgical oncology, he practised as a surgeon for more than fourteen years and established a hospital named Dhanvantri in Ahmedabad.

• During his activities in RSS (1984), he was a colleague of Narendra Modi who was inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in 1984 in Ahmedabad. Both provided support to each other at the time of difficulties and crises. 

• With the support of Modi; he became the General Secretary of VHP in 1996 and when Keshubhai Patel the former chief minister (1995 and from 1998 to 2001) of Gujarat, banished Modi to Delhi, Pravin provided him full support. Later, Modi became the Chief Minister of Gujarat in 2001 with his help.

• In order to pay gratitude to Pravin Togadia; Modi inducted Togadia’s close associate and the most important leader of Vishva Hindu Parishad, Gordhan Zadafia as the home minister of Gujarat state.

• In 2002, he appreciated the Modi Government strongly by saying that it is the start of a Hindu Rashtra and asked Hindus to cut all relations with Muslims.

• In 2002, he proclaimed the 2002 Gujarat riots as a “Hindutva laboratory” that would be replicated in Delhi. He also said that a Hindu Rashtra could be expected in next two years and India’s history as well as Pakistan’s geography, would be changed by then.

• Addressing over one hundred rallies, he supported the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) during the December 2002 elections of Gujarat Assembly.

• In the 2012 Gujarat Assembly elections, Togadia and other Vishva Hindu Parishad (VHP) activists worked hard for Gujarat Parivartan Party but they lost the elections. 

• He launched the Hindu Helpline Network in April 2010 that extended to more than 50 cities of India till 2014.

• He held Trishul Deeksha (trident distribution) ceremonies for VHP and Bajrang Dal many times.

• He is a strong supporter of Lord Rama Mandir construction in Ayodhya and suggested the Hindus that they should be aware of their rights.

• He is well known for his anti-Islamic speeches.

• There are 19 criminal cases against him for delivering hate speeches.

• He gave clarifications regarding the allegations against him in a popular TV show – Aap Ki Adalat.