E-Paper
Bhagwat keeps to the script, pats Modi policies
NEW DELHI: A year before its protégé (the BJP) swept to power at the Centre, the RSS cadre at its annual Vijayadashami congregation heard their chief Mohan Bhagwat
NEW DELHI: A year before its protégé (the BJP) swept to power at the Centre, the RSS cadre at its annual Vijayadashami congregation heard their chief Mohan Bhagwat criticise then UPA government for its economic and foreign policies.
Bhagwat was unsparing of the government in 2013 for its inability to retaliate to the incursions by the Chinese army and attacks from Pakistan.
“It has been proved time and again that Pakistan’s policy is based on its hatred for India. Knowing this very well, why we are pursuing a weak and meek policy ? … Bhagwat said in Nagpur.
He also parsed the attempts to “entrust means of production to foreign hands” in a reference to the FDI policy.
Both the issues have resurfaced in 2016, two years after the BJP came to power at the Centre.
But on Tuesday, the RSS chief skipped all references to the FDI reforms being pushed by the BJP, though he praised the government for the shift in its foreign policy as indicated by the surgical strikes.
Since July 2014, the tone of the speeches — now telecast live by the public broadcaster Doordarshan — has been complimentary to the government.
“We are dreaming of a Bharat where whatever diversity is there, in our ways, our lives, we will accept each others’ differences,” an optimistic Bhagwat said soon after the BJP came to power.
While the BJP was accused of imposing its choices by banning beef, Bhagwat had tried to allay fears: “Different castes, creeds, communities … food, culture are not important. We should accept everyone…”
The optimism turned into a crucial defence of the government in 2015 when the opposition slammed the government for spreading intolerance in the country.
As the opposition accused the government of pursuing a Hindutva agenda, the RSS chief hit back, saying it was the Hindu culture that helped maintain unity in diversity.
Bhagwat was blamed for the BJP’s loss in the 2015 Bihar assembly elections for raking the issue of revisting caste-based reservation.
In 2016, references to caste biases remained limited to the need for eradicating them.
The only apparent disagreement between the Sangh and BJP that surfaced in this year’s speech was the reference to the gau rakshaks.
After the Prime Minister referred to the cow vigilantes as criminals, the RSS has made a concerted attempt to delink the two.
