Does BJP want to placate Imam?

It seems that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is trying to get rid of the ill-will caused by the skullcap issue by pacifying Maulana Hazrat Sufi Imam Shai Sayeed Mehendi Hussein alias Pirana Baba. Pirana Baba had offered the skullcap to Modi during his three-day fast, which the chief minister had refused to wear.

A local BJP leader is believed to have visited Pirana Baba to pacify him and find a way out of the controversy. Baba, meanwhile, claimed that the chief minister too wanted to meet him. Pirana Baba made it very clear that offering the skullcap to Modi was a gesture meant as a blessing for the chief minister and that he was not prompted by anyone to do it.

The BJP high command apparently instructed a local party leader from Thasra to contact Pirana Baba. Baba told DNA that one Vijaybhai came to meet him after the incident along with one of his relatives. "Vijaybhai told me that the party leaders had asked him to contact me and find a way out of this controversy. He was constantly getting calls from his senior party leaders," said Pirana Baba.

"Vijaybhai asked me to talk only about the skullcap to the media and nothing else," said Baba.  He also claimed that chief minister Narendra Modi was ready to 'rush' to his 'Khanka' at Rustampura to let the issue rest in peace.

He also said that he asked Vijaybhai to inform Modi to set up an organisation of Sufi saints of Gujarat for renaissance of India. "I am always ready for the cause of humanity," said Pirana Baba.
He said that Yasin Ajmerwala, who is believed to be associated with Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh (RSS), invited him to bless the chief minister at Sadbhavna Mission. "He asked me to praise Modi for his good work in my speech and shower blessings on him," said Baba.

"Yasin had also taken me to meet Indreshji of RSS in Delhi in the past to help solve the issue of Babri Mosque," he said.