Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat in a recent speech peppered with criticism about the way the campaign was conducted on both sides of the political divide. He highlighted the need for selfless service, seeking consensus among political divides, unifying the nation amidst challenges.
Bhagwat also had advice for the new government and the Opposition, indicating that the approach to both election and governance should be tweaked. He blamed both the BJP and the Opposition for adopting campaign “strategies that would lead to divisions, increasing social fault lines”.
“It is called Opposition…It should not be considered an adversary. Their opinions should also come to light,” he said while addressing the closing ceremony of RSS worker’s development class in Maharashtra’s Nagpur. “There is dignity in contesting elections. That dignity was not maintained. There is decorum even in contesting elections, that decorum was not followed, because it is necessary to follow decorum because the challenges before our country have not ended,” he further added.
“The mind and psyche of each person are different, hence it is not possible to have similar opinions, but when people in the society decide to move together despite having different minds, then mutual consent is formed. There are two parties in Parliament, so both sides are exposed, it is a bit difficult to reach a consensus among people who have come into competition, that is why we take the hope of a majority, there is competition, not mutual war,” Bhagwat said.
Heaping praise on the NDA government, Bhagwat said, “The government has been formed, the NDA government has come back, a lot of good things have happened in the last 10 years, the economic situation is getting very good, the strategic situation is better than before, the prestige of the country has increased in the world, arts, sports, knowledge, science and culture. The countries of the world have started accepting that we are moving forward in the field of agriculture, but this does not mean that we are free from challenges.”
The RSS Chief also mentioned, “Everything will go on according to the verdict of the people. We do not get into questions like why and how. We perform our duties.”
“Election is a process of building consensus. Parliament has two sides so that both aspects of any question can be considered… Every issue has two sides. If one side is addressed by one party, the Opposition party should address the other dimension, so that we reach to the right decision,” he said.
A true ‘sevak’ maintains dignity. He follows the decorum while working. He does not have the arrogance to say ‘I did this work’. Only that person can be called a true ‘sevak’.
Be blessed with strength and modesty, modesty comes from your religion and culture, which calls for non-violence after truth. It says have goodwill towards everyone,” he went on to observe.
“The way in which people abuse each other, misuse technology and spread fake news during election campaigns is not right,” he said.
“It’s been a year since Manipur has been waiting for peace. The state remained peaceful for the last 10 years, but suddenly, the gun culture has increased again. It is important to resolve the conflict as a priority,” the RSS chief said.
“The situation in Manipur will have to be considered with priority. There is a need to get over election rhetoric and focus on problems facing the nation,” he added.
