By Piyush Srivastava
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday ended his five-day visit to Gorakhpur, cold-shouldering chief minister Yogi Adityanath in his backyard and handing advice to Sangh cadres that underlined the growing discord between the BJP and its ideological fountainhead.
Bhagwat addressed about a half-dozen meetings of RSS cadres from Awadh, Kashi, Kanpur and Gorakhpur and, according to Sangh sources, broadly emphasised the following points:
- Ahead of its centenary next year, the RSS is appointing “shatabdi vistaraks” (centenary expansionists) across the country who will make the outfit’s presence felt in every village, meeting residents and organising shakhas.
- The divisions in society have widened in recent years, posing a danger to the nation. Correcting this is the Sangh’s duty. The RSS will organise community feasts across the country, inviting people from every caste. (Bhagwat didn’t mention religious communities.)
- Every Hindu must sincerely follow the values of the religion. The RSS will stick to the path of Chhatrapati Shivaji and Maharana Pratap to keep Hindus under its umbrella. (Both were warrior kings who fought the Mughals.)
- Hindus must not practise discrimination or untouchability. This is important to protect Hindu culture, establish India as Vishwa Guru and turn it into a Hindu Rashtra.
An RSS functionary who asked not to be identified explained how the import of Bhagwat’s strictures reflected the Sangh’s disillusionment with the BJP and Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
“We are back where we were in 2014. The government was in a position to do anything it wanted for 10 years but involved itself in promoting an individual at the cost of the resources of the RSS while not honestly following its ideology,” he said.
“The RSS had united Hindus over many years but they again got scattered in the last 10 years because the politicians disappointed them.”
This story was originally published in telegraphindia.com. Read the full story here.
