Despite endorsing the Bharatiya Janata Party's (BJP) prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi last week, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat has asked his organisation's cadres to be careful and not cross its "maryada" (limits) while working for the BJP.
“Hum rajneeti mein nahin hain. Humara kaam ‘Namo Namo’ karna nahin hai. Humme apne lakshya ke liye kaam karna hai (We are not in politics. Our work is not to chant ‘Namo, Namo’. We must work towards our own target)", Bhagwat said.
The RSS chief made these remarks while addressing the RSS’s Pratinidhi Sabha in Bangalore on Sunday, which was also attended by BJP chief Rajnath Singh and Ramlal, the RSS pracharak deputed to BJP as general secretary (organisation).
Bhagwat also instructed RSS cardres to stay away from any personality-driven campigning.
When a participant suggested that the relationship between the RSS and the BJP should resremble the one between Chanakya and Chandragupta Maurya, the RSS chief said that in the present scenario, it was more important for the organisation to work in a detached manner. “Humaari apni maryada hai. Humme maryada nahi todni hai (We have our own limits. We must not cross our limits),” he is reported to have said.
Bhagwat justified the RSS’s efforts to bring the BJP to power at the Centre, saying it was in the “national interest”.
The RSS has endorsed Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi for the prime minister's post as he "is a strong leader who has delivered in Gujarat", according to RSS joint general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale.
Bhagwat's comments have drawn scorn from Communist Party of India (CPI) leader Atul Anjan. “All these Modi wave must be trashed. It is actually the RSS which is calling the shots from behind. That RSS chief (Bhagwat)is slowly distancing himself from Modi and asked his cadres not to chant 'Namo Namo' in favour of Modi is only to counter any threats which might derail the chances of Modi holding the top job in the country,” he said on Tuesday. “His (Mohan Bhagwat's) act was that of a cat which after eating hundred rats, goes on a pilgrimage", he added.
