Senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar.
Credit: PTI File Photo
New Delhi: Days after RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said that “ahankar” (arrogance) should not be seen in a true “sevak”, senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar said that those that had “ahankar” were “limited to 241 seats” (referring to BJP) by Lord Ram. In response, HAM chief and union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi said that the RSS should be allowed their 'moment' since the BJP government will continue to run.
The BJP and the RSS are set to sit for a ‘samanway’ baithak on July 31.
Speaking at a function on the outskirts of Jaipur in Rajasthan, the RSS national executive member took a swipe at the BJP, without naming them. “The party which did ‘bhakti’ but became arrogant, was stopped at 241 (240), but then they became the biggest party,” Kumar said.
Kumar also took aim at the I.N.D.I.A. bloc: “And those who had no faith in Ram, they together were stopped at 234. God’s justice is true and enjoyable.”
Union minister Jitan Ram Manjhi, in response to the comments of Kumar, said that with Ram’s blessing the BJP has formed government. “Let him be happy with that... Lord Ram has given us the mandate to work, and we are working. Those who are saying this should think about themselves,” Manjhi told reporters.
Kumar’s comments came at a time when RSS has been airing some of its displeasure with the BJP. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, without naming the BJP, said in a function earlier this week on Monday, that elections should be a “consensus-building” process, and the Opposition should be identified as “pratipaksh” (counterpart). The RSS mouthpiece Organiser, too, in an article by RSS member Ratan Sharda, stated that the “false ego” of BJP leaders led them to believe that the RSS workers were “country bumpkins”.
Some RSS leaders, however, contended that when Bhagwat spoke of “arrogance”, he was not speaking about the BJP or government. The BJP and the RSS will be sitting for a Samanway Baithan on July 31, where a lot of these issues are set to be discussed.