Re-elected for a third consecutive term, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh general secretary Bhaiyyaji Joshi on Sunday said “divisions” in the Sangh Parivar and the recent “adverse” statements of the Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, the Bharatiya Kisan Manch and the Swadeshi Jagran Manch against the Narendra Modi government, should not be perceived as an attack on the government.
“Every organisation has its fundamental principles and also has a right to make them public. All these organisations have only reiterated their long-standing positions. Neither Prime Minister Modi looks at it as an attack on his government nor do we,” Mr Joshi said.
Commending the Modi government’s nine month tenure as “satisfactory in totality,” Mr Joshi asked the media to ignore “smaller issues.”
“The government has brought in some positive changes in the Land Bill so we don’t need to say anything on the issue. The programme with which they [the BJP] went to the people in elections is being followed,” he said.
Beef banMr Joshi supported the recent government decision banning eating of beef and said the ban must be strictly enforced at the ground level.
He condemned the rape of a nun in West Bengal but warned those “who are trying to give it a religious colour.”
When asked about the speculations in the media about his replacement by his deputy Dattatreya Hosabale and whether the RSS was finding it tough to find a replacement, Mr Joshi said, “No one is indispensable in our organisation. No one contested the election for the post of Sarkaryavah. It was a unanimous election. But we stick to our stand that new people should be given a chance in the organisation and elders should step aside and guide them.”
Reacting over the Ghar Vapsi campaign launched by some of the affiliate organisations of the RSS, he said the comments on Hindutva could not put the government in trouble.
