Nobody but common man should be credited for BJP win: RSS chief

Mohan Bhagwat downplays role of 'personalities' in historic Lok Sabha victory

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Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat is not willing to give full credit for resounding success of Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) in the last general election to the charisma and poll strategy of Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any of his lieutenants.

“Now-a-days people are talking about a particular person or one particular organisation responsible for change of regime at the Centre. But I think the mandate reflected the mind-set of the common man of our country,” Bhagwat said

“It is the common man and no one else, who played a key role in bringing BJP to power at the Centre and hence, must be credited for the change of regime,” he said, while speaking at a cultural function organised by Odisha unit of RSS on the occasion of Raksha Bandhan festival.  

“Those (the parties and persons) who are claiming their role for the victory, must not forget that they could not achieve such victory earlier despite their same ideology and propaganda tactics. The massive mandate is the will of common man,” he added.

Bhagwat’s statement comes a day after the BJP formally anointed Amit Shah, a former general secretary of the party, as its president for his contribution in cementing a decisive victory for the party in the last Lok Sabha election.

Praising Shah, who the party says was responsible for winning 73 out of 80 parliamentary seats from most populous Uttar Pradesh, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said he was ‘man of the match’ for the massive victory. The BJP rode back to power last May with 282 seats on its own, highest since the inception of the party.

Shah has been elevated keeping in view the by-polls for several vacated seats and assembly elections in at least four states. The Hindu ideologue, which has a say in BJP internal matters, also spoke about development and environmental concerns.

“It is not necessary that agenda for development and concerns about environment protection should always collide. There is a way where both can co-exist,” he pointed out saying that the nation must look forward to be prepared for all kinds of security such as food, environment and internal as well as external security.   

In an apparent reference to growing cases of communal violence in many places, the RSS head said, the role of a community is not to divide people, but to unite them.

"Dharma does not define how you worship your god. It does not divide people, but unites people. It is a shame that people who talk about dharma, are labelled as communal," he said.

Bhagwat, however, did not reply to questions on the state of the affairs in the Modi government.