Leader of Opposition in Gujarat Assembly Shankersinh Vaghela today criticised the Vishwa Hindu Parishad and some religious leaders for supporting Chief Minister Narendra Modi as the prime ministerial candidate.
After Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat's remarks that rapes were prevalent in India and not in Bharat, the Vishwa Hindu Parishad blamed the 'western model' of lifestyle for growing incidents of sexual assault on women including rape, saying cities were losing the values.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat has sparked outrage with his statement that when he said rape is mainly prevalent in urban India due to western influence and that such crimes against women do not happen in rural areas of the country.The remark that came against the backdrop of the Delhi gangrape incident was slammed by the Congress, CPI-M and women's bodies while the BJP and RSS defended it saying the comment should be taken in proper perspective.
Addressing an event in Jaipur, the RSS leader said, "The term 'Hindu' has already entered our Constitution and country. It is a fact of history. Hindu is an identity and a culture to which people belong."
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh said that no dialogue should be held with the outlawed Maoists who carried out a deadly attack recently in Chhattisgarh against Congress party leaders.
The organisers were told by "government sources" that security issues could arise due to Dhar's presence
The RSS chief also asserted that the Hindutva organisation never asks its volunteers to work for any particular party but does advise them to back those working in the national interest.
Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi on Sunday met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh top brass, including its chief Mohan Bhagwat, but brushed aside suggestions that the issue of projecting him as prime ministerial candidate for 2014 general elections was discussed.
Raking up the issue of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh-Team Anna "nexus", Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Friday alleged that Mohan Bhagwat, Anna Hazare and Govindacharya are "contradicting" one another over the issue.
"Since RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and other leaders are not scheduled to visit Delhi in the immediate future, I decided to meet them in Nagpur," Advani told media persons on arriving at the Nagpur airport.
The permission is subject to some restrictions including a cap of 4,000 on the number of attendees.
On a day when Gujarat Chief Minister Narendra Modi was inducted into the Bharatiya Janata Party's Parliamentary Board, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh's chief Mohan Bhagwat raked up the issue of Ram Mandir in Ahmedabad, expressing the desire to build a glorious 'Shree Ram Mandir'.
Bhagwat also expressed concern over Bitcoin and OTT platforms and asked the government to take efforts to regulate these things.
Dr S Q R Ilyas, head of the BMAC and a senior member of the board, feels that the Sangh Parivar should not have raked up the Ram temple issue. In a candid chat with rediff.com's Vicky Nanjappa, Dr Ilyas said the recent proclamation by the RSS, VHP and BJP was a desperate measure to rake up the issue of Hindutva once again
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Thursday backed the BVishwa Hindu parishad's resolution for building a Ram temple in Ayodhya, saying its construction is like establishing the 'Indian identity'.
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday lashed at the Centre for its midnight crackdown on protesters, including women and children, at Ramlila Maidan in Delhi, while admitting that it "extended" support to yoga guru Baba Ramdev's agitation.
Joining a list of leaders who made controversial remarks following the Delhi gangrape incident, Samajwadi Party leader Abu Azmi on Tuesday said women should not go out with men other than relatives and agreed with RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's view that most rapes take place in cities and not villages.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Tuesday said the revolt by B S Yeddyurappa seeking reinstatement as Karnataka chief minister was "very serious", even as the Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari went into a huddle with Mohan Bhagwat and other top leaders of the organisation in Nagpur.
Congress member of parliament Kalpana Parulekar on Monday created ruckus in the Madhya Pradesh assembly during question hour by raising the issue of her arrest in the previous session.
Describing the unrest among party members as just the "tip of the iceberg," the report shed light on the underlying discontent within the BJP.
Invitations are being extended to several people who have been part of this temple movement including BJP leaders L K Advani, Murali Manohar Joshi and Uma Bharti, Mishra said. Kameshwar Chaupal, another trustee of the temple, said top leaders of the RSS including its chief Mohan Bhagwat and general secretary Suresh Bhaiyyaji Joshi are also being invited for the event along with VHP's working president Alok Kumar.
'Undeniably, Modi's position has stabilised and he has staged a comeback of sorts from the weeks after the Lok Sabha results.' 'Coalition partners are likely to be more tolerant of Modi... The forthcoming elections in Delhi and Bihar will determine whether this continues or not.' 'To win Delhi and Bihar, Modi will have to work in conjunction with the RSS.' 'However, because of the 'truce' that has been worked out within the Sangh Parivar, Modi will have to be more consultative than he has been in the past ten years,' reveals Modi biographer Nilanjan Mukhopadhyay.
"Frequent elections not only impose a huge burden on human resources but also impede the development process due to the promulgation of the model code of conduct. Therefore, a sustained debate is required on the subject of simultaneous elections and all political parties need to arrive at a consensus on this issue," he had said.
Amid talk of leadership change in the Bharatiya Janata Party after government formation, party president Rajnath Singh on Wednesday met Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat and other top Sangh leaders.
A day after senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader L K Advani withdrew his resignation following the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief's call to him, the Sangh on Wednesday said that it is not interfering or managing the affairs of the right-wing party.
The stringent National Security Act (NSA) has been invoked against two people lodged in jail for allegedly burning photocopies of extracts from the Ramcharitmanas, officials said on Monday.
The election took place at the two-day annual meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha, the Sangh's highest decision-making body that began here on Friday.
The Upper House witnessed two adjournments before noon.
The Sangh chief said, "Even Veer Savarkar had said if the Hindu community gets united and organised, it will speak about the Bhagwad Gita and not about finishing or harming anyone."
"Chakraborty has been given a 'Y+' cover and armed CISF commandos will accompany him during poll campaign in West Bengal," a senior officer said.
The RSS does not mind playing politics with religion-based census data despite knowing well that it is completely flawed, says Syed Firduas Ashraf.
A simulated security scare situation was created wherein four "terrorists" entered the RSS building, the official said late night.
Senior Bharatiya Janata Party leaders L K Advani and Sushma Swaraj should 'pull up' Nitin Gadkari for his anti-Sonia Gandhi remarks, Congress General Secretary Digvijay Singh said on Thursday.
Will teaching such slogans imbibe patriotism or create resentment?
The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Thursday said talks between India and Pakistan will not yield any results as long as Islamabad continued its 'antagonistic mindset' towards India. "Pakistan has a continuous antagonistic mindset towards India. Unless that attitude is changed, talks will never be fruitful," RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said when asked about the foreign secretary-level talks between India and Pakistan.
Making it clear that Malegaon blast accused Colonel Srikant Purohit has no links with it, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has asked Prime Minister Manmohan Singh to set up an independent commission to probe an alleged plot to assassinate its chief Mohan Bhagwat by the former military intelligence officer and efforts to 'malign' the image of the Sangh.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Friday came out in fulsome praise of the Modi government for initiatives on national security, economy and international relations in a short period of six months.
Delhi Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal on Tuesday tweeted, "I worked wid Mother Teresa for a few months at Nirmal Hriday ashram in Kolkata. She was a noble soul. Pl spare her," said.
Addressing a public meeting in Bangalore, he said though it was encouraging to note that Indian companies were acquiring firms globally, incidents of farmers' suicides could not be ignored.
While senior Congress leader Digvijaya Singh said on Tuesday that Anna Hazare must be praised for the 'good work' he has done in his native village Ralegan Siddhi, he continued his tirade against the social activist's movement and Team Anna member Arvind Kejriwal.
