Sena red over RSS body's move to host Iftar

Sena also sought to know whether the Hindutva agenda is being diluted ahead of elections in next year

Shiv Sena on Thursday questioned an Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) affiliate's move to host Iftar party in Delhi next month against the backdrop of Sangh's posturing as nationalist organisation even as it accused BJP of indulging in appeasement of minorities in view of Uttar Pradesh (UP) polls.

Sena, the key ally in the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)-led National Democratic Alliance governments at the Centre and Maharashtra, also sought to know whether the Hindutva agenda is being diluted ahead of elections in next year.

"RSS has always wanted India to be a Hindu rashtra and has been portraying itself as a nationalist organisation. The BJP on the other hand has been projecting itself as a party for Hindus. Now why the sudden Iftar party? What do they want to indicate?" Sena spokesperson Manisha Kayande questioned.

Sena's criticism came a day after Muslim Rashtriya Manch (MRM), an affiliate of RSS, announced in Delhi that it will host Iftar on July 2 for which it has invited ambassadors of many countries, including Muslim nations like Pakistan, to spread the message of unity and harmony and of making India riots-free. The move is seen as a bid to shed 'anti-Muslim' tag of RSS.

"After winning Lok Sabha polls, the Ram temple issue has been abandoned. They now think of it as a cultural issue and not saying that it had been their political agenda at one point of time. As the UP elections are nearing, they are slowly shedding their Hindutva agenda," she said.

Kayande said," BJP has been criticising Congress for appeasement of minorities for electoral gains in the past 60 years and is doing the same thing today."

MRM was formed in 2002 as a platform for Muslims at the initiative of RSS with the aim of bringing the two communities together.