Mohan Bhagwat: RSS not concerned about who's in power, does not seek domination

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) began a three-day conclave in the national capital on Monday with an aim to engage with a cross section of people and present its perspective on future of the country.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat. Photo: File (PTI)

NEW DELHI: The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) began a three-day conclave in the national capital on Monday with an aim to engage with a cross section of people and present its perspective on future of the country. The three-day event of the RSS, the ideological fountainhead of the ruling BJP, titled "Future of Bharat: An RSS Perspective", was being organised so that people could understand the organisation, Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said. During his 80-minute speech, Bhagwat spoke on a variety of issues, including the freedom movement. "Congress played a big role in freedom movement and gave India many great personalities," he said. "The work RSS does is incomparable," he added. Bhagwat asserted that RSS is "most democratic" and not dictatorial.

"Who will be in power, what policy the country will accept is something to be decided by the society and people. There are mechanisms in place for that... We are not concerned about that, what we are concerned about is the conduct of the society," he said. He also asserted, "We do not want RSS's domination, rather we believe that if the history writes that something good happened in the country because of Sangh's domination, then it will be a big defeat for us. What we want that the country should rise due to the efforts of the common man and its history and present is decided by him." The main aim of the RSS is reforming the society by riding it of its ills, he said, claiming that an RSS worker considers the entire society as his own. The venue of the event is Vigyan Bhavan, where usually major government events are held. Bhagwat said the organisation has emerged as a "power" in the country and many people target it out of fear. "Its (RSS) work gets advertised automatically when its power increases. And when its work gets popular, then people try to learn more about it. And then few people target Sangh out of fear of its increasing power which is quite natural." He said that because RSS had a unique identity, it gets popular amongst people and its workers do not run to advertise its work. Almost all major opposition parties gave the conclave a miss though the RSS had invited them. "India is a country full of diversity and it must be respected and celebrated," he said, adding that it should not become a reason for "discord" in the society. The outreach comes at a time when the Congress-led opposition has been ramping up attacks on the RSS, accusing it of promoting divisive ideology and attacking minorities. (With inputs from agencies)