NAGPUR (TIP): RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday, September 5, said the situation prevailing in Manipur was difficult and challenging and there was no guarantee of safety.
“Locals have doubts about their security. For those who have gone to Manipur for business or social work, the situation is even more challenging. Even in such trying conditions, RSS volunteers are stationed in Manipur in an urge to bring peace and normalcy. Sangh volunteers are serving both feuding factions of the state”.
NAGPUR (TIP): Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday, June 10, called for peace in strife-torn Manipur and said campaigning for the Lok Sabha election had increased ”social tensions and suspicion” among people.
Speaking during an event at the RSS headquarters in Nagpur, Mr. Bhagwat, addressing Sangh workers said that while elections are an essential process of democracy, there ought to be a limit to one’s rhetoric during campaigning.
“There are two parties. There is competition. Since it is a contest, efforts will be made by both to push oneself forward. But there is a dignity to this process. Lies should not be used. People are being elected to go to Parliament and run our country. They do so by reaching a consensus. That has been our tradition. This [election] contest is not a war,” said the RSS chief.
“The manner of campaigning was one in which social tensions and suspicion among people would increase and two groups would be divided. Care was not taken to ensure that this did not happen. Without any reason, organizations like the RSS were dragged into this,” added Mr. Bhagwat.
Mr. Bhagwat said that Manipur has been waiting for peace for a year.
“The State had been peaceful for 10 years. It had appeared that gun culture had ended. However, who is thinking of dousing the flames that have erupted now? Peace has to be considered on priority basis,” Mr. Bhagwat said.
The ruling BJP lost the Lok Sabha election in Manipur, with both seats being won by the Congress. The Opposition Congress had accused Mr. Modi of not visiting Manipur while Congress leader Rahul Gandhi had done so, commencing his Bharat Jodo Nyaya Yatra from there.
He said that while the National Democratic Alliance (NDA) government had come to power and that a number of good things had taken place in the last 10 years, like an improvement in economic conditions and an enhancement of India’s prestige in the world, it did not mean that challenges had ceased.
“There is a dignity to contesting elections. That dignity was not maintained. It is necessary to do so because the challenges facing our country have not ended…The same government is back to power [NDA]. While it is right that a lot of positive things have happened in last 10 years, it doesn’t mean that we are free of challenges,” Mr. Bhagwat said.
He also rued the fact that falsehoods were propagated through technology. “Modern technology was used to propagate falsehood. How will a country run like that?” he said.
Mr. Bhagwat further said that the Opposition should not be considered an adversary. “They are Opposition, revealing one side. Their opinions should also come to light,” he said.
(With inputs from PTI)
In a major organizational reshuffle, the Bharatiya Janata Party dropped Union Minister Nitin Gadkari and Madhya Pradesh Chief Minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan from its parliamentary board, the party’s highest decision-making body. Nitin Gadkari has not exactly been comfortable in the company of Modi-Shah duo. A once vocal president of Bharatiya Janata Party, Gadkari has comparatively been, if not silent, quiet for some time. In the last three years one could see a different Gadkari than the nation had known as pushing forward vigorously the party agenda.
Gadkari’s performance as minister speaks for itself. I remember his keenness to learn from New York traffic control authorities how best traffic could be managed in Indian metropolitan cities. He spent a couple of hours to study the system at the Traffic control in New York. His passion to speed up work of construction of roads and bridges, the department he holds (Gadkari is Minister for Road Transport and Highways), is evident from the fact that he not only met the targets but met them in advance of the deadlines. A man who believes in action rather than in making tall claims, he is probably the best man in Modi’s cabinet. Why should Gadkari, a former President of the BJP and a performing senior minister in Modi cabinet be dropped from the Party’s highest policy making body- the BJP Parliamentary Board?
Well, it is a clear signal to RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat that he does not control power; the power lies with Modi-Shah duo. The first clear indication came when, in a dramatic move, a Bhagwat favorite Devendra Fadnavis, was restrained from becoming the chief minister of Maharashtra when even the announcement about his oath taking was almost made.
And now comes the exclusion of Gadkari. One should not be surprised if a performing chief minister of UP whose model of governance came in for much appreciation and which is being sought to be replicated by many BJP chief ministers in their states, has failed to find favor with the BJP leadership of Modi-Shah duo because of his being a protégé of RSS Chief Mohan Bhagwat.
Clearly, Modi who is known to be ruthless with his perceived rivals, has conveyed to RSS chief who really controls the knobs of power Surely, all is not well in Modiland.
New Delhi (TIP)- Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has said that ‘Akhand Bharat’ — Unified India, the dream of Swami Vivekananda and Maharishi Arvind, will be a reality in 10-15 years if common people also put a little effort. Bhagwat made this statement during Prana Pratishtha ceremony in Haridwar.
The RSS chief said that the speed with which the country was moving on the path of upliftment, it will take 20-25 years to become Akhand Bharat. He further said that the time would be half if upliftment picks up pace.
Bhagwat said, “We will talk about non-violence but also keep a stick in our hands because the world believes in power.” Reacting to Bhagwat’s comments, AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi asked why ‘Akhand Bharat’ was not achieved in the last 8 years, Why Mohan Bhagwat is talking about making ‘Akhand Bharat’ in the next 15 years and on what basis the RSS chief is talking about the creation of ‘Akhand Bharat’.
Bhagwat’s remarks also faced a retort from Shiv Sena MP Sanjay Raut who challenged the RSS chief to achieve the dream of Akhand Bharat in 15 days and not in 15 years.