Jaipur: The VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) plans to submit a memorandum soon to President A P J Abdul Kalam to demand the expulsion of the Rajasthan government for its "deliberate conspiracy" to slap sedition charges on Praveen Togadia, its top leader said in Jaipur on April 17.

Acharya Giriraj Kishore, vice-president of VHP told reporters that distribution of Trishuls (Tridents) in various parts of the state would continue as per schedule.

The names of VHP leaders who will participate in this ceremony will not be disclosed, he said.

Asserting that the Trishul Diksha was a religious right, he said, a week-long agitation programme in Rajasthan against Togadia's arrest would begin from April 20 at the district headquarters. Rallies and dharnas (sit-in) would be held against the Gehlot government, he added.

Kishore alleged that the action against Togadia was being taken at the behest of Congress President Sonia Gandhi.

Togadia's counsel Onkar Singh Lakhawat said it was left to VHP leadership to take a decision on filing of a fresh bail plea for Togadia in the Ajmer district and sessions court.

On April 16, an Ajmer court rejected the bail plea of Togadia, who is in jail since April 14 for defying the ban on distribution of tridents, and extended his judicial custody till April 30. Togadia was slapped with the charge of sedition under section 121-A and other four sections of the IPC.

"Togadia himself wanted that the allegation of Rajdroh be taken to the public by the VHP high command in Delhi for wider support," the lawyer and BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) leader said.

Lakhawat claimed the police department had "deliberately slapped new charge under the IPC, including that of 121-A in which the victim could be sentenced to death or life imprisonment if charges were proven."

PTI