New Delhi: The Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) convention held in Goa’s Panjim called upon Hindus to vote for candidates who support Hindu Rashtra and announce measures to protect Hindu interests in their manifestos in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.HJS national guide Charudatta Pingale appealed to Hindu voters not to give in to promises of free electricity, a free laptop and other freebies, but back candidates only those who favour a nationwide ban on cattle slaughter, an anti-conversion law, and stringent law to punish those who mock Hindu deities, Hindu dharma and Hindu way of life. He also said Hindus support vote for candidates who support the repeal of “regressive laws” such as the Places of Worship Act and the Waqf Act in their election manifesto, O Heraldo reported.Maharashtra Mandir Mahasangh coordinator Sunil Ghanwat, speaking at the convention, said temple premises should be made free from alcohol and meat. He also said a dress code must be implemented for those who visit temples, and claimed that the dress code is already being enforced in 131 temples in Maharashtra “to protect temple culture”. Ghanwat also called on the Hindus to exert pressure on the authorities concerned to free temples from government control.The primary aim of HJS is to achieve the establishment of the Hindu Rashtra (Hindu nation). “Due to a ‘secular’ Democracy today, the state of the society, Nation and Dharma is on the decline. A system of governance based on Dharma, that is, establishment of the Hindu Nation, is the need of the hour as a solution to the problems of Hindus. Hindu Janajagruti Samiti (HJS) has, therefore, undertaken the task of nationwide unity of Hindus through activities such as education on Dharma and awakening and protection of Dharma,” its website said.With the ascendancy of Narendra Modi as prime minister in 2014, fundamentalist Hindu organisations, which had until then remained dormant, have got a new lease of life and have since been amplifying their demands for the establishment of Hindu Rashtra, which is antithetical to the founding premise of India as a secular-democratic republic.