RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Saturday that veteran Sangh ideologue MG Vaidya had played a crucial role in the RSS earning respect and guided the organisation with his ideas and intellectual thoughts. While felicitating the former RSS spokesperson on his 98th birthday in Nagpur, Bhagwat said Vaidya’s contribution was more special because it came at a time when the RSS was facing a crisis. Vaidya was one of the prominent RSS functionaries who pushed the organisation with the ideas of nationalism and Hinduvta, Bhagwat added.
“We have inherited the very ideas of Vaidya,” Bhagwat said and added that such Swayamsevaks also paid the price for it -- an obvious reference was Vaidya’s imprisonment during Emergency.
A Swayayamsewak can attain greater height in public life when he follows discipline and is dedicated and loyal to the principles of the RSS. And Vaidya, who is turning 98, is the finest example, the RSS chief said.
Bhagwat recalled Vaidya’s contribution in setting new branches within the RSS and his enthusiasm in attending the Shakhas regularly till his health deteriorated.
While lauding his contributions, the RSS boss called on the new generation to follow the path shown by him.
A former lecturer of Sanskrit in a Christian missionary run Hislop College in Nagpur, Vaidya was entrusted with the responsibility of editing the RSS mouthpiece, ‘Tarun Bharat’ by the then RSS chief late Balasaheb Deoras and he did not spare right-wing MLAs of Maharashtra for their indiscipline and lashed out in his Editorial, Bhagwat noted.
The Union transport minister Nitin Gadkari, who was present there as a guest of honour, also spoke on the occasion and recalled his association with Vaidya.
Responding to the felicitation, Vaidya attributed his identity and credential to the RSS. “The Sangh has groomed me and whatever I am today it’s because of the ideology and ethos of the Sangh Parivar,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}Responding to the felicitation, Vaidya attributed his identity and credential to the RSS. “The Sangh has groomed me and whatever I am today it’s because of the ideology and ethos of the Sangh Parivar,” he said.
{{/usCountry}}In his speech, Vaidya also commented on the BJP leader Jai Bhagwan Goyal’s book which compares Prime Minister Narendra Modi to Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj.
“If anyone compares a certain person with a great personality that doesn’t mean you are insulting the great person. It’s because of the height of the person who is being compared with another great person,” he said.
Goyal’s book was described as ‘insulting’ to Chhatrapati Shivaji and Maha Vikas Aghadi allies created a massive furore last month leading to the author withdrawing the book.