On a day when Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) leaders made a beeline at the office of Rashtriya Swayemsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Rao Bhagwat to seek his advice on tackling the multiple crisis within the party, Bhagwat exuded optimism on the party’s future and said “the BJP would rise even from the ashes”.
At his first interaction with the media in Delhi after taking over as head of the RSS in March, Bhagwat said the RSS would not interfere in the routine working of the BJP, leave alone “taking over the party”, as suggested earlier by BJP leader Arun Shourie.
He said: “Whatever is going on in the BJP is not good. It should be sorted out.”
He admitted that BJP chief Rajnath Singh and other leaders have been coming to me to discuss the crisis in the party. “I give my opinion (to them) and ask all of them to find ways to remain together.”
Bhagwat, however, said the defeat in the Lok Sabha elections was a major jolt to the BJP and “it (the party) needs to do an urgent balancing act”.
He denied reports about the RSS offering leaders to the BJP for a proposed revamp of the party in the wake of its current crisis. The RSS workers, he said, had their hands full and none of them liked taking on the political activities.
“RSS workers are neither available nor inclined to join political parties,” he maintained.
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The RSS chief refused to be drawn into various controversies surrounding the BJP, be it the Gujarat government’s ban on Jaswant Singh’s book ‘Jinnah — India, Partition, Independence’ or expulsion of Singh from the party.
He, however, clarified that “RSS believed that Jinnah was responsible for the partition as he believed Hindus and Muslims could not live together.”
Several BJP leaders including Murli Manohar Joshi, Prakash Javadekar and Varun Gandhi met Bhagwat today. Sources said L K Advani, leader of the opposition in Lok sabha is also expected to meet him soon.