Former Bharatiya Janata Party general secretary and Narendra Modi's bete noir Sanjay Joshi on Sunday attended a series of meetings in Gujarat, where many state party leaders apparently sidelined by the chief minister were present. Joshi, who was unceremoniously removed from the post of general secretary of BJP on the insistence of Modi, visited Ahmedabad, Surat and Navsari districts, where he met many party workers and Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh volunteers.
In an interview with CNN-IBN, Bharatiya Janata Party president Nitin Gadkari has slammed Telecom Minister Kapil Sibal for questioning the 2G report and rubbished the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh's alleged links with terror. Here are some excerpts from the interview:
The chief of Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh Mohan Rao Bhagawat said on Saturday that the Centre should hold no talks with insurgent groups in the Northeast on the country's sovereignty and integrity, as these are non-negotiable.
More members of the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak may have been involved in planning the Ajmer blast in October 2007, according to sources in the Central Bureau of Investigation.Devender Gupta, who was arrested in connection with the Ajmer blast and the Mecca Masjid blast, has reportedly revealed that RSS members Varshney and Ashok Berry were also involved in planning the blast.The duo had allegedly provided refuge in Lucknow to the suspects who carried out the Ajmer blast.
A Rashtriya Swayam Sevak leader, who was arrested in connection with anti-Christian riots last year, was gunned down by suspected Maoists in Orissa's communally sensitive Kandhamal district early on Thursday. Approximately 15 armed ultras struck Rudiguma village, about 145 km from Phulbani, in the wee hours of Thursday and shot dead Prabhat Panigrahi, who was staying at an RSS activist's house, police said. A massive combing operation has been launched to nab the assailants.
Rashtriya Swayam sevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat the RSS does not interfere in party work. The issue of leadership in BJP has to be decided by the party. "It is not for us to interfere," said Bhagwat at a press conference in Delhi.
Reacting sharply to National Democratic Alliance convenor George Fernandes' statement cautioning the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak not to take on itself a political role, the RSS on Tuesday said it did not need any advice from him.
Addressing a gathering at the Delhi border as the Bharat Jodo Yatra led by Gandhi entered Delhi, he said, "They spread hatred, we spread love and embrace all Indians".
'Since Modi is walking a tightrope between two worlds -- one of the saffron brotherhood and the other of the proposed smart cities and bullet trains -- it is understandable why he is averse to scrutiny lest he loses his balance by tilting too heavily on one side or the other. But, why has Sonia Gandhi acquired the reputation of a sphinx,' asks Amulya Ganguli.
In an exclusive interview to CNN-IBN, Rashtriya Swayam Sevak leader Indresh Kumar says that Bharatiya Janata Party s' prime ministerial candidate Narendra Modi is like former Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, and compares them to Subhash Chandra Bose and Mahatma Gandhi.