Vishwa Hindu Parishad general secretary Pravin Togadia on Monday demanded an apology from Andhra Pradesh Chief Minister N Chandrababu Naidu for "insulting" him.

At a press conference in Anantapur town, Togadia likened Naidu to Mughal emperor Aurangzeb and asked him to clarify whether he stood for "Babar or Lord Ram".

"He is thinking that he has come to power with the support of Muslims. He must know that h has come to power with the support of the Hindu majority," the VHP leader said.

"This decision [of the AP government] to detain me is absolutely unconstitutional and it is an insult to the basic fundamental rights. In Bharat, dogs have a right to bark but a Hindu leader does not have the right to express his views? Chandrababu Naidu should tender an apology to the Hindus for insulting one Hindu leader unconstitutionally to appease the jihadi fundamentalists who are responsible for attacking the Sai Baba temple [in Hyderabad] and killing Hindus," he said.

The Anantapur police had taken him into preventive custody when he arrived from Bangalore. He was released after the AP high court allowed the VHP to hold its rally in Anantapur town.

The VHP leader lambasted Naidu for not taking action against those involved in the attack on the Sai Baba temple. "The killings of Hindus are continuing and conversions are taking place in the state. Instead of curbing the activities of these elements, Chandrababu Naidu has tried to suppress a nationalist Hindu leader like me who is here to speak on the Ram temple.

"I am here to mobilise the people for the [construction of a] Ram temple at Ayodhya. I will enrol lakhs of Rambhakts during my visit to Rayalaseema. I want the Ayodhya issue to be solved at the earliest either through a judicial process or a legislation, so that it is not be an issue in the next elections," the VHP leader said.

Stating that "politicians like Chandrababu Naidu have sold themselves to Ghaznis and Ghoris", he said, "I have gone around the country. There was no tension and no violence anywhere."