Shiv Sena (Uddhav Thackeray) leader Sanjay Raut slammed the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) on Friday and said that there has been a politics of arrogance prevailing in the country in the last 10 years, and the servants of the people cannot be arrogant. He further stated that the public has put an end to the politics of arrogance.
While speaking to reporters, Raut praised former key leaders of the RSS and said that they have contributed to saving the democracy in the past. The Shiv Sena (UBT) leader also stated that he has faith that the RSS will remove the 'arrogant BJP' from power.
This comes after RSS National Executive member Indresh Kumar, in an apparent attack on the saffron party, said the party that had become arrogant was stopped at 241 seats by Lord Ram. Indresh Kumar is said to be second in command after RSS sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat. He was speaking at the 'Ram Rath Ayodhya Yatra Darshan Poojan Samaroh' held near Jaipur.
Without naming anyone or any party, Indresh Kumar said that the election results reflected certain people's attitudes. "They became arrogant. The party first did bhakti and then became arrogant. Lord Ram stopped them at 241 seats but made them the biggest party," he was quoted as saying by ABP News. "On the other hand, those who did not have faith in Lord Ram were stopped at 234 only," he said in an apparent reference to the INDIA bloc.
Reacting to Indresh Kumar's comments, Raut said there has been arrogance and misuse of power in the last 10 years, and the RSS just kept witnessing. He also said that everyone had hopes that the RSS would come forward without any fear and try to put an end to this type of politics.
Speaking to reporters, Raut said, "I have been listening to this thing said by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Yesterday, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat also said the same thing. The servant of the people should not be arrogant, but in the last 10 years, we have seen only arrogance in this country. There is arrogance, jealousy, politics of revenge, and misuse of power, and the RSS, the parent organisation of the BJP, just kept witnessing".
"In the last 10 years, all of us had a lot of hopes from the RSS that the key people associated with the organisation would come forward without any fear and try to put an end to this politics of revenge and arrogance. This is what the public of this country was hoping, and opposition parties like us were hoping, but this did not happen," he added.
Continuing his attack on the BJP, Sanjay Raut said that the public has stopped the politics of arrogance. “The public has stopped the politics of arrogance. In the coming days, we hope the RSS will take a similar stand. We hope you will soon try to remove those arrogant people sitting in power. We believe that you can do it.”
Kumar Has Said Half-Truth: RJD
RJD leader Manoj Jha also reacted to Indresh Kumar's remarks saying that he has said half-truth. "He has said half-truth. I can understand the 241 thing. You can't describe people with 234 seats as 'Ram drohi'. Lord Ram is 'Maryada Purshottam'. Indresh ji, you don't have an idea about it. Mahatma Gandhi's photo in one pocket and Nathuram Godse's photo in another... it doesn't work like this. Indian democracy is vibrant... it can take you from 241 to 2 seats."
In the recently concluded Lok Sabha elections, the BJP-led NDA won 293 seats and formed the government at the Centre. The opposition bloc INDIA bagged 234 seats. The saffron party failed to breach the 272-seat majority mark on its own and was supported by its bloc partners in forming the government for a third straight term.