Author:
Publication: Hindu Vision
Date:
In a recent interview to Indian
Express Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee said he had told crities of
his government in the Sangh Parivar that they were harming "their government".
In response to this remark RSS spokesman
Shri M. G. Vaidya has said:
'This is not an RSS government.
There will be no RSS government in future times." Even a pure BJP government
would not belong to the RSS, he stated, as it would have people without
an RSS background. Asked about Shri Vajpayee's statement that such criticism
only undermined the critics' clout and stature, Shri Vaidya said: "We don't
care. It is for others to see if our clout is there or not." He added that
in the RSS view, the Government was doing fine and would last its full
term.
Reserving the RSS's right to criticise
the Government, Shri Vaidya said: "We are not a formal opposition... The
RSS will be putting forth its views on all important issues as explicitly
and unequivocally as possible. We are not going to bind ourselves by compulsions
of coalition politics."
"The RSS had nothing to do with
the policies of the NDA Government. We don't exert any pressure on the
Government and its policies. We only make our points of view clear". He
reaffirmed the RSS stand on four major issues, Kashmir, Swadeshi, cow-slaughter
and Ayodhya, and ruled out any dilution on these counts.
The RSS, he said, would not issue
any directive to its cadres to work for any party in Uttar Pradesh. However,
RSS workers would be free to work for any party. "They are, after all,
voters too," he said. When asked for comments on the BJP decision not to
make the Ayodhya temple an election issue, Shri Vaidya said it was for
the BJP to reply. However, he added that "the temple is on our agenda"
and the RSS "would support any movement for the construction of the temple."
