RSS shakhas produce PMs

Agra: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has put the shakha at the very centre of the resurgent right, saying that the hour-long morning sessions “produce prime ministers”.

Addressing a rather affluent cross-section of Agra residents on the third and closing day of the Sangh’s Yuva Sankalp Shivir at Astha camp, Bhagwat invited audience to join the RSS and understand how a simple boy who attends a shakha in “half-pant” one day becomes Prime Minister of the country.

“You need to be a member of the RSS and attend our one hour shakha every day. Then only you will know how a member who wears half-pant in the shakha one day becomes prime minister. One hour of shakha has given two prime ministers to the country,” he said without taking the name PM Modi or former PM Atal Bihari Vajpayee. Unusually for an RSS Sarsanghchalak, Bhagwat took pride in referring to the growing political clout of the organisation.

“We don’t work in coordination with each other. But we have our cadres in the BJP who believe in the agenda of the RSS and mount pressure on them to accept it. We also suggest several things to the BJP but it is up to them to accept or reject our suggestions,” he said.

Bhagwat also reiterated his Hindutva vision, declaring that “Bharatiyata (Indianness) and Hindutva are same. Those who look at it differently don’t understand the essence of Hindustan.”

The Sarsanghchalak went on to explain his vision.

“We don’t consider Bharat as a mere piece of land. Those who have Bharatiyata live in Bharat (India). Pakistan, Nepal and Tibet discarded Indianness. This is why they are facing several problems. Hindus are dominant in Bharat and this is why we have succeeded in retaining Indianness in India,” he said.

“Those who wanted partition of India had said that they would live in Pakistan. They didn't say that they would be in India. They said Pakistan would be for the Muslims and India would be for the Hindus. The RSS doesn’t hesitate in reminding the world these realities of India.”

Earlier in the day, Bhagwat told RSS cadres that the RSS was against opening up the Indian market to Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) in multi-brand retail.

“It is not acceptable to us at any cost. Such a decision would not only affect our internal business but also pose a major threat to our economy”, the Sarsanghchalak said.

Bhagwat’s declaration is significant as opposition to the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) government’s policy on multi-brand retail was an important part of the BJP’s Lok Sabha election campaign, and this latest prod could well be a reminder to action.

Bhagwat said the Sangh was ready for FDI in defence sector but it should be on a limited scale.

“We can agree to FDI in defence only because we need to have modern weapons. Foreign investment in our production sector is possible when the ownership remains with India. We have to be very careful about it. In such cases, India should export more than importing from other countries,” Bhagwat said.

He called upon the people to boycott Chinese items and said only those foreign products should be accepted which were not produced in India.

The RSS chief said “Love Jihad” was taking place in the country in a systematic manner and it could be prevented by enactment of a law against it.

“We believe that it is a planned conspiracy against our daughters. It should be opposed at every level. There should also be a law in the country to prevent it. But we should also impart cultural training to our daughters so that they can understand such nefarious designs of those involved on Love Jihad,” he said. Bhagwat said the population of India is 121 crore out of which 40 lakh people are RSS members. Presently the RSS holds 30,000 daily shakhas across the country. There are 60,000 RSS units that hold weekly meetings.