RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s recent visit to Bihar sparked a fresh battle between former allies JD(U) and BJP as a minister in the Nitish Kumar cabinet on Wednesday demanded a ban on the RSS and legal action against Mr Bhagwat while the BJP hit back by releasing photographs of Mr Kumar purportedly attending an RSS event.
Accusing Mr Bhagwat of trying to “weaken country’s unity and sovereignty” by his comments on Hindutva, Bihar agriculture minister and top JD(U) leader Narendra Singh told journalists: “A criminal case should be registered against Bhagwat for saying that the country’s unity and sovereignty could be maintained only through Hindutva. Such statement is in open violation of the spirit of the Constitution”. Mr Singh said Mr Bhagwat’s statements were akin to “the way Khalistani and other divisive forces had tried to divide the country”.
Mr Singh’s demand, coming a day after the BJP revoked the suspension and expulsion of 40 of its leaders in Bihar after a meeting with Mr Bhagwat during his visit to Patna, ruffled the saffron party’s feathers.
Mr Bhagwat had reportedly discussed matters of the BJP’s state unit with about 15 senior party leaders at the RSS headquarters in Patna and offered them advice on strengthening the party unit. BJP leaders released photographs showing chief minister and JD(U) stalwart Nitish Kumar attending an RSS event in Patna commemorating Hindutva ideologue M.S. Golwalkar seven years ago. In the photographs purportedly clicked on May 13, 2006, Mr Kumar is seen seated with BJP leader and then deputy chief minister Sushil Kumar Modi and others. One of the photographs shows Mr Kumar offering floral tributes to a photo of Golwalkar at the function.
“If the JD(U) has the guts to say such unreasonable things about the RSS and its chief, they must be prepared for a matching, more damaging response from us. We have a befitting answer to all their (JD-U) tricks,” said BJP state unit chief Mangal Pandey.
The photographs are likely to cause further embarrassment to Mr Kumar, who has been facing constant allegations from the Opposition RJD, LJP and Congress in recent years for letting the RSS strengthen its base in Bihar during the seven years of JD(U)-BJP coalition rule.
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MODI TAKES ON UPA again
Ahmedabad, July 24: Mocking at the UPA government over speculation about early Lok Sabha elections, Gujarat cm Narendra Modi Wednesday wondered how it can decide it is “indecisive” on various fronts. He also tore into the economic policies of the government at the Centre and took digs at Prime Minister Manmohan Singh. “There is a debate going on about early elections. Somebody asked me about it to which I said, ‘how can this government, which has not taken any decision in the last nine years, will decide about early polls’,” Mr Modi said. — PTI