New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement earlier this month warning ‘sevaks’ against becoming arrogant was widely perceived as a veiled jibe at the Bharatiya Janata Party, but Organiser editor Prafull Ketkar said in an editorial that the statement was not meant for the BJP alone, as was portrayed by the Opposition.
Ketkar suggested that it was important to “not remain entangled in the campaign mindset” after elections, so that “ongoing national challenges” could be addressed.
“Sangh moves on once refining public opinion is done during the elections; everyone should follow the same. This message is for all the political parties, civil society activists, media houses and society,” he added.
“Sarsanghchalak (Bhagwat) expressed displeasure over the nature of the election campaign from both sides of the political spectrum,” the editorial read. “The way falsehood was spread with the misuse of technology and faultlines on social, religious, regional and linguistic lines were further widened, especially by the Opposition parties. Both trends are disturbing for an aspirational democratic society like ours.”
Adding that RSS’s “fundamental philosophical convictions” were “society-centric transformation and not merely politics-centric”, he wrote, “The historic, timely and eye-opening speech of Sarsanghchalak Bhagwat in the backdrop of ferociously competitive elections should be seen in this light. Coming together and working collectively to mitigate the national challenges is the central message of this speech.”
‘Separatist MPs a risk for nation’s unity’
A key issue discussed in the Organiser weekly magazine was the victory of “separatist elements” in the 2024 Lok Sabha elections.
In an article, Rajiv Chopra, Principal of Delhi College of Arts & Commerce, University of Delhi, wrote, “Bharat’s democracy has long been viewed as the leading example worldwide. However, in leading cases, the meaning of democracy was misinterpreted and missed, raising grave concerns about the political mainstreaming of fringe and separatist elements that could threaten the nation’s unity and integrity.”
He also said in the piece that time had come for the Election Commission of India to revisit the electoral norms and check the historical background of the candidates in general elections, and polls for state assembly or local bodies.
Chopra wrote about the impact that the election of the likes of Engineer Rashid and Amritpal Singh as MPs was likely to have on the Parliament.
“With Amritpal Singh securing a seat in the Lok Sabha, his presence and rhetoric within the hallowed chambers of India’s Parliament would undoubtedly create ripples across the political landscape,” he said. “As a vocal proponent of the Khalistan movement, Singh’s speeches and interventions could inject a separatist narrative into the Parliamentary discourse, forcing other members to grapple with balancing free speech with national integrity.”
“Democratically elected separatists advocating secession and potentially even violence to achieve their goals present an existential threat, undermining a nation’s territorial integrity and social cohesion,” the piece read.
Chopra said that India had already experienced immense bloodshed and suffering due to cross-border militancy fanned by Pakistan in its quest to wrest Kashmir away through a proxy war.
“Singh’s entrance into the Lok Sabha provides him a national platform and legitimacy to broadcast his divisive, separatist agenda to a broader audience,” he wrote.
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Modi 3.0: Parallels with Narasimha Rao, Vajpayee coalition govts
An Organiser article by Naveen Kumar said that the Modi 3.0 government would take all the steps needed to take India further.
Kumar wrote, “In the absence of the compulsion of ‘Common Minimum Program’ and striking a developed modest tone, the new coalition government under the leadership of Shri Narendra Modi will be strong enough to steer the reforms, continuing the firm national security regime and addressing the core BJP issues, including ‘Modi ki Guarantee’.”
Giving the example of previous coalition governments, he said, “P.V. Narasimha Rao as a prime minister started a coalition government and it was marked by significant measures that opened India to global markets, fostering a new era of economic development. After 1996 and 1998 experiments, BJP formed a viable coalition government under the leadership of Vajpayee in 1999 that ushered in successful second generation economic reforms, which were more swift and faster than generation reforms.”
Referring to the new coalition government led by PM Modi, Kumar added, “Again with good intent and high level of integrity, one leader is going to lead the coalition. The precedents indicate that this Government will also take all sorts of strong decisions which are necessary for the country.”
AAP govt & the Delhi water crisis
In this week’s edition of the Panchjanya magazine, Arun Kumar Singh targeted Arvind Kejriwal over the water shortage in Delhi.
Singh wrote, “This is the condition of Delhi under the rule of the government whose Chief Minister Arvind Kejriwal had said in 2015 that the Delhi government would provide piped water to the entire Delhi within five years. Even today, after nine years, his promise has not been fulfilled.
He added, “The situation is such that even piped water has not been laid in hundreds of areas of Delhi. There are hundreds of localities in South-West Delhi where there is no piped water at all.”
Giving the example of Mahavir Enclave, he said, “Water pipelines were laid in some streets here several decades ago. The Kejriwal government started providing water through the same pipeline in 2015, but sometimes water comes, sometimes not. Water does not come to many streets at all. In the streets where there is no pipeline even today, water is supplied through tankers.”
Quoting social activist Dr. Deepesh Kalwar, Singh wrote, “Even after so many years, the government has not been able to lay water pipelines in hundreds of localities. But the shamelessness is such that Kejriwal and his government ministers keep telling the whole world that they are giving 700 litres of water free of cost to every family in Delhi every day.”
Opposition’s ‘divisive’ politics
In an editorial for Panchjanya, Hitesh Shankar said the debate about the Electronic Voting Machines (EVMs) and several other issues raised by the Opposition during the elections could be divisive for the country.
He wrote, “The united opposition parties’ focus against the ruling party was on issues like the tempting money distribution schemes, blaming the EVM-Election Commission, casteism, communalism, creating social differences on the basis of religion and language.”
“Were these issues logical and worth testing? Were these issues going to strengthen the country? Are these issues worth taking forward?” he added. “The politics of dividing on the basis of caste or religious identity, making people fight, was going on since the British Raj, but in face of this narrow politics intended to harm society, another ‘model’ of development politics has come up very well in the last decade.”
In this context, Shankar referred to RSS chief Bhagwat’s statement in Nagpur and said that the “secular type of people” alleging that the Sangh did not support BJP in the elections did not understand the Sangh’s principles and policies.
“These people boast of knowing the working style of the Sangh without being familiar with the principles and policies of the RSS. However, they do not even know this basic thing that the Sangh never works in favour of or against any political party. The Sangh definitely works for the refinement of public opinion,” the editorial read.
(Edited by Mannat Chugh)
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