The Hindu : National : Why should Modi apologise, asks Mohan Bhagwat

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Why should Modi apologise, asks Mohan Bhagwat

Neena Vyas

Says new BJP chief will not be from among four ‘gen next’ leaders

NDA, UPA failed to give Pakistan a decisive response: RSS chief
Rules out settlement of Ayodhya dispute by allowing temple and mosque

NEW DELHI: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has categorically stated that the next BJP president will not be from among the four ‘generation next’ leaders of the party but from “outside.”

In an interview to Aaj Tak channel, telecast on Friday night, Mr. Bhagwat propounded not only his view of hard Hindutva but also harked back to the theory of ‘akhand Bharat’ that would one day bring Pakistan and Afghanistan into India’s fold.

The RSS chief said he did not think Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi had done any wrong during the 2002 riots in the State and there was no need for him to apologise.

“Why should he [Modi] apologise? He has done no wrong … I am told that the speed with which riots were controlled is commendable …”

Mr. Bhagwat was asked whether Mr. Modi should apologise just as Prime Minister Manmohan Singh and Congress president Sonia Gandhi did for the anti-Sikh riots of 1984 although they were not at all responsible for those. His answer was” “Why should he [Modi] apologise? That is not the way.”

Mr. Bhagwat ruled out a settlement of the Ayodhya dispute by allowing a temple and a mosque to come up at the disputed spot. He did not agree with BJP leader L.K. Advani who had described the demolition as a “national shame.”

The RSS chief’s view was that the National Democratic Alliance government after the Parliament terror attack and the United Progressive Alliance regime after 26/11 attacks in Mumbai showed “lack of will” to give Pakistan “a decisive response for all its mischievous actions.”

Mr. Bhagwat categorically said that a new BJP president at the end of Rajnath Singh’s current tenure would be “someone other” than the four central leaders — Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah Naidu and Ananth Kumar. To a pointed question naming these leaders, Mr. Bhagwat said: “Yes, the new leadership will be someone other than these four.”

Mr. Singh’s tenure comes to an end in January 2010. The party’s organisational election process is on and is to be completed by February-March 2010.

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