Thaindian News

Chandigarh, Dec 5 (IANS) Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat Saturday said the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is an independent political organisation and the RSS had “no time’ to run it.
Interacting with media at the Chandigarh Press Club, Bhagwat said: “Hamare paas usko (BJP) chalane ki fursat nahin hai.” (We don’t have the time to run the BJP).

“The BJP is a political party. What they do is contrary to our work. We have the power to run its (BJP) affairs but we don’t want to do that. If our help is sought on any issue, we will help. They have capable leaders to run their affairs,” he added.

The RSS chief, who is known for his forthright views on various issues, hoped that the BJP would resolve its leadership issue.

“What the BJP leadership has told us, we hope they will do that. They will decide when and how they will do this,” he said.

He added that neither he nor the RSS had any information on who would be the next BJP president.

Asked whether the BJP was a better party than the Congress, the RSS chief said that public had given its opinion about this in the general elections in 2004 and 2009.

The RSS chief said that it was wrong to say that the organisation was out of sync with modern India. “We are moving with modern India.”

On the issue of the RSS being associated with controversies against other religious minorities, the RSS chief said: “If the RSS name crops up in any controversy, we are open to a probe. We will submit ourselves to it. We have our own ideology and follow that.”

He added that the RSS had no objection to other religions and faith if they follow the Indian identity.

Asked if the Maharashtra Navnirman Sena (MNS) led by Raj Thackeray was diluting the Indian identity, Bhagwat said: “The whole of India is for all Indians. They are free to live and earn their livelihood anywhere. Sometimes there are certain local issues but these cannot be at the cost of our national integration.”