New Delhi: VHP (Vishwa Hindu Parishad) today (Oct 18, 2004) expressed disappointment over L K Advani's appointment as the new BJP (Bharatiya Janata Party) president saying that by doing so, the party has given a message that it does not want to return to Hindutva.

"By electing the leader who is responsible for betraying Hindus, BJP has given a message that they don't want to return to Hindu agenda," its firebrand secretary general Praveen Togadia told.

He recalled that Advani had not only described the demolition of the disputed structure at Ayodhya as the "most shameful day" in his life but termed the post-Godhra riots as a "blot".

"He chose to take the priest of Ajmer Sharief and not the Shankaracharya in his pre-election Bharat Uday Yatra and for a fatwa issued in the party's favour from the Shahi Imam," Togadia said.