Hindutva is core of India, its identity: Bhagwat

Terming as wrong perception that the Sangh is the ideological founthead of BJP, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the essence of its activities is to build a strong India with Hindutva at its core.

Terming as wrong perception that the Sangh is the ideological founthead of BJP, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on Sunday said the essence of its activities is to build a strong India with Hindutva at its core.

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"Many misgivings about the Sangh is prevailing in the society for different reasons and people talk about Sangh without knowing about it or the essence of its activities," Bhagwat said in Patna, addressing a gathering on the eve of Shravan Poornima.

"Hindutva is the core of Hindustan, it is its identity," he said adding that it is wrong to look at Hinduatva as an ideology of a particular religion or community.

The Rashtriya Swamsewak Sangh (RSS) sarsanghchalak said that a leader or a political party could do little to make a country strong unless and until there is reform in the society based on the "right" ideology.

Bhagwat, whose organisation RSS has been lending support to Narendra Modi for Lok Sabha polls, said the Sangh's aim is to bring a change in the society by giving the country in the hands of the "right" leader.

"Change has always come from society and not politics... just change of people in power will not help much...there is need to bring right kind of change in the society based on ideology of Hindutva," he said.

Bhagwat was addressing the gathering in the presence of senior BJP leaders of Bihar including former deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi, leader of opposition in Bihar Assembly Nand Kishore Yadav, BJP vice-president CP Thakur and state BJP president Mangal Pandey.

The RSS chief said that Sangh is engaged in a daunting task of reforming the society to make India a strong country.

Keshav Baliram Hedgewar, founder of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) at Nagpur in 1940, had participated in the independence struggle and during that always raised issues related to reform of the society by ending prevalent social evils, Bhagwat said.

"Hedgewar, who was orphaned in childhood, took a vow to remain single throughout life had no other ambition than to end social evils in society and make the country strong," the RSS chief said in a bid to dish out history of the organisation.