New Delhi: Days after Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat flagged the need for humility in public life in what was read as a signal to the BJP, another Sangh veteran flagged “arrogance” of the ruling party as the reason why it fell short of majority in the 2024 elections.
Coordination panel meet
– BJP-RSS coordination meeting scheduled from Aug 31-Sept 2
– Yogi to meet RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat in Gorakhpur on Saturday
Speaking at an event in Jaipur late on Thursday, RSS leader Indresh Kumar said Lord Ram had done justice to everyone in the 2024 elections.
“Look at the justice of Lord Ram in the festival of democracy in 2024. Those who worshipped Lord Ram, but became arrogant, that party emerged the single largest in elections but could not attain full majority. All parties that opposed Lord Ram (read opposition INDIA bloc), together, could win only 234 seats,” said Kumar advising caution and humility in politics.
Top RSS sources on Friday said Indresh Kumar's comments “were personal and did not reflect the RSS view”.
The RSS sources also said a three-day coordination committee meeting of the BJP and RSS had been scheduled from August 31 to September 2 at Kerala's Palakkad. Meanwhile, Uttar Pradesh Chief Minister Yogi Adityanath will on Saturday meet RSS chief Bhagwat, who is visiting Gorakhpur for a Sangh training event. The meeting, coming after BJP's abysmal show in UP polls, attains significance.
On the RSS-BJP ties, a senior RSS functionary on Friday said, “The RSS-BJP ties are the same as before.” The functionary added that momentary unease should not be read as a sign of friction.
“People can have reservations with one another at times, but that does not mean they will stop working or supporting one another,” the RSS source said in reference to anxieties many Sangh leaders have privately expressed at serial pre-poll inductions into the BJP of people from the opposite side of the ideological spectrum.
The RSS today, however, firmly dissociated from Indresh Kumar's remarks saying, “What he has said can never be the Sangh view.” They, however, added that it was for the BJP to review LS poll loss, its factors and course correct. “We will also give suggestions when we meet,” they said ahead of the BJP-RSS meeting in August.
As for Indresh Kumar, he on Thursday also said the lesson from the 2024 verdict was that Lord Ram worshippers should keep arrogance at bay and those opposed to Him should remember that they are destined to fail.
Kumar even took a jibe at Lallu Singh, the defeated BJP candidate from UP's Faizabad Lok Sabha segment which houses Ayodhya, the seat of Ram Temple, saying: “Lallu Singh lost (Faizabad LS seat) because he unleashed atrocities on people. Lord Ram rested him for five years.”
