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The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on Monday lashed out at the Congress, saying it wants to connect people through hatred, while asserting the national party's earlier generations, too, harboured animosity and contempt for the Hindutva organisation.
RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya, apparently referring to the Congress's Bharat Jodo Yatra, described it as a "political gimmick" that will not serve its stated purpose of uniting masses.
Addressing a press conference after the conclusion of the three-day all-India coordination meeting of the RSS in Chhattisgarh's capital Raipur, he claimed the grand old party harboured hatred for the Nagpur-headquartered organisation and tried to scuttle its growth, but the outfit nevertheless expanded with support of the society.
The Congress on Monday tweeted a picture of a burning pair of khakhi shorts -- a part of the RSS uniform earlier, saying, "To free the country from shackles of hate and undo the damage done by BJP-RSS. Step by step, we will reach our goal", while referring to its Bharat Jodo Yatra, a mass contact programme launched by the party last week from Kanniyakumari in Tamil Nadu.
Queried about the Congress's tweet, the senior RSS leader said, ”If anyone does a job of connecting people of India then it's a good thing, but how do you connect -- through hatred or love? The spiritual identity of India is called Hindutva in the world. Hindutva is not a religion. ..If anyone tries to unite the country by recognising the element that associates people in true sense, then he/she is welcomed."
”Otherwise if you try to unite people through hatred then it will seem like a political gimmick and will not serve the purpose of connecting people,” Vaidya added.
The number of people connecting with the idea of Hindutva was "growing", he maintained.
Vaidya further said, ”Do you (Congress) want to connect people by hatred? They (Congress) have harboured hatred from a long time (against the RSS). His (apparently referring to Rahul Gandhi) ancestors (baap-dada) have insulted the Sangh and put their all might to stop the Sangh and imposed a ban on it twice. But the Sangh kept growing because we have true principles. With the support of dedicated swayamsevaks (volunteers) and the society, the Sangh continued to grow."
”This (picture of khakhi shorts on fire tweeted by Congress) also reflects their hatred. I would not like to comment on it,” he added.
Briefing about the coordination meeting, Vaidya said ”Discussions were held on initiatives for self-reliant Bharat with Bharatiya economic model that is human-centric, labour intensive and eco-friendly.”
The conclave also emphasised on equitable distribution of benefits, village economy, micro, small and agriculture-based industries and women empowerment, the senior RSS functionary said.
Vaidya said on the occasion of Amrit Mahotsav (75 years) of India's independence, all the RSS-inspired organisations discussed how to take forward the issue of self-reliance.
He said the issue of using Indian languages in functioning of the judiciary also came up for discussion at the gathering.
Talking about the Sangh's expansion, the joint general secretary said a lot of youths had evinced interest in joining the organisation via its website.
Between 2017 and 2021, over 1.25 lakh online requests had been received, while in the first eight months of this year (2022), about 90,000 youths had expressed their desire to join the RSS, he said.
The Akhil Bharatiya Samanvay Baithak, or annual national coordination meeting, of the RSS was attended by Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat, its sarkaryavah (general secretary) Dattatreya Hosabale and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president J P Nadda, among other leaders.
In all, 36 organisations and over 240 representatives from RSS-inspired outfits attended the meeting.