New Delhi, Jan. 15: The BJP has subtly shifted the focus of its Kanchi campaign from the ?injustice? done to the acharyas to the apprehension that the Tamil Nadu government is set to take over the mutt and ?destroy? the ?sanctity? of one of Hinduism?s oldest bastions.

On Day One of a week-long protest launched by the party against the ?humiliation of dharamgurus? (religious preachers) Jayendra Saraswati and his junior Vijayendra Saraswati, speaker after speaker ? ranging from Atal Bihari Vajpayee and Murli Manohar Joshi to V.K. Malhotra ? harped on the same theme. The mutt must not be allowed to pass into a ?vendetta-driven? government?s hands, they declared at a function organised by the Delhi BJP at the Constitution Club auditorium.

With the tenor of the speeches calibrated to suit the speaker?s image ? moderate if it was Vajpayee, incendiary if the voice was Joshi?s and anti-Sonia Gandhi when it was Malhotra?s turn ? the issue-strapped cadre egged on their leaders to ?agitate to the logical end?.

Vajpayee cautioned about a ?third danger? looming in the horizon after the two arrests. ?That is the takeover of the mutt. It seems imminent. The purity of the mutt will have be preserved because we see this as a conspiracy and a challenge,? he said.

?Why is this being done? Religion, traditions and modes of worship are part of any society. It is not a Hindu-Muslim issue because every community has the right to worship in its own way. This right is a manifestation of a secular polity. But nobody can have double standards,? the former Prime Minister stressed.

Joshi claimed that the Karnataka government was readying itself to ?usurp? the Pejawar Mutt of Udupi.

Vajpayee recalled that when had he led a BJP delegation to meet Prime Minister Manmohan Singh after the junior pontiff was arrested and the mutt?s religious functions came to a standstill, he was told the ?law will take its course and there will be no obstacles in puja-paath?.

But the former Prime Minister indicated he was not convinced by his successor?s reply.

Government denial

The Tamil Nadu government has no proposal to take over the Kanchi Mutt, a top state government official said on Saturday, reports PTI.

?There is no change in the government?s policy announced by the chief minister, Jayalalithaa, in November last that there is no plan with the government to take over the 2,500-year-old mutt,? the official said.