Ahmedabad, March 31 (PTI): The Vishwa Hindu Parishad will declare Gujarat a “Hindu state” by 2015, the group’s international working president Pravin Togadia claimed today.

“In two years, the VHP will have a presence in all 18,000 villages of Gujarat and by 2015, we will declare Gujarat a Hindu state,” Togadia said at a Hindu Sangam event.

VHP joint organisational secretary Vinayakrao Deshpande, however, spoke of dwindling support for the outfit in Gujarat. Ten years ago, there were more than 10,000 committees in the state but the number has come down to 6,000 now, he said.

The Hindu Sangam was organised to launch a movement to reach out to community members in villages, towns, cities and tribal areas.

Narendra Modi’s absence at the event where the VHP, which turns 50 next year, announced plans for its resurrection, was conspicuous especially since it was held in the chief minister’s constituency. Modi and the VHP have been at loggerheads in the past.