Bhagwat holds talks with RSS functionaries from MP & C'garh

As part of the ongoing RSS meeting here, Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat on Wednesday started his two day-long interaction with the functionaries of his organisation from Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, the states currently ruled by the Congress.

On Monday and Tuesday, Bhagwat had held interaction with over 100 RSS pracharaks from these two states to get their "feedback" on the protests against the new citizenship law.

The four-day-long RSS meet is underway at Sharda Vihar, a residential school of the Sangh, here.

On Wednesday, Bhagwat started holding talks with the functionaries of the RSS and its affiliates, including Akhil Bharatiya Vidyarathi Parishad (ABVP), Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Hindu Jangran Manch, Sewa Bharti, Vidya Bharti and Gram Bharti. These interactions will continue on Thursday.

Bhagwat is reviewing their work for charting out the Sangh's roadmap for the Congress-ruled Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, sources said on Wednesday.

On Thursday evening, the RSS is expected to come out with outreach programmes aimed at youth, women and rural populace, especially to garner support for the Citizenship (Amendment) Act (CAA), they added.

Bhagwat's interactions with the RSS pracharaks were aimed at knowing the challenges they were facing in Madhya Pradesh and Chhattisgarh, which voted out the BJP, the political offshoot of the Sangh, during the last Assembly elections.

The RSS functionaries reportedly told Bhagwat about the "soft Hindutva" being played by the Kamal Nath-led Congress government in Madhya Pradesh, sources said.

The Nath government has announced to construct a Sita temple in Sri Lanka, which the previous BJP dispensation in Madhya Pradesh could not do in nine years after sanctioning Rs one crore for it.

The idea to build a Sita temple in Sri Lanka was mooted by then chief minister and BJP leader Shivraj Singh Chouhan in 2012 when then Sri Lankan President Mahinda Rajapaksa had visited Sanchi to lay the foundation stone of an international Buddha university.

According to the epic 'Ramayana', Sita was held captive by demon god Ravana in Lanka.

The Kamal Nath government has also announced construction of 1,000 gaushalas or cow shelters in Madhya Pradesh and Ram Van Gaman Path, a mythical route believed to have been taken by Lord Ram in Chitrakoot area of Satna district in the state during his exile.

During their interaction, RSS functionaries from Chhattisgarh reportedly spoke about how the Bhupesh Baghel-led Congress government in their state was trying to invoke local pride to consolidate its position, sources said.