Our relation with BJP is that of mother and child: Bhagwat

New Delhi, Aug 28 (ANI): Rashtriya Swayam Sevak Sangh Chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Friday that the relation between the RSS and the BJP is like that of a mother and a child.

Addressing a press conference at the Sangh headquarters here, Bhagwat said, "Our relation with BJP is like mother and child. Now, the child has become elder, and it is capable of taking its own decisions."

Bhagwat said if the BJP asks for any suggestion of the RSS, it will give, " If they want any help to reconstruct the party, we will certainly help them, but they have to ask for that."

Responding to a question, Bhagwat said that the Sangh's commitment's to the building of the Ram temple in Ayodhya is intact.

"In 90s, we assured Ram Mandir Andolan leaders that the Sangh will stand with it in building a temple in Ayodhya, and we are still committed on it, we will take the Andolan till we construct the temple at the same site," he said.

Rejecting the formation of two streams of thoughts in RSS ranks, Bhagwat said: "I don't see any such deviation."

" We expect our swayamsevaks (volunteers) to be committed to one nation and one culture, if any one goes beyond this thinking we will not consider him as Swayamsevak," Bhagwat said.

"Sangh never considered power as ultimate way to achieve the ideological commitment, but power is also a mean to achieve it," he said.

Bhagwat said it is for the BJP to decide on their way forward, and RSS will not dictate it.

Regarding RSS -Muslim relations, he said there are many Muslim workers who are also regularly attending Shakhas (Branches) and we haven't stopped or restricted any one from coming to shakhas, "But I agree that the number is not visible at the higher level."

Comparing the views of Sangh ideologue H.V.Sheshadri and the recent statement of former RSS chief Sudarshan on Jinnah, Bhagwat said, "They (Sheshadri and Sudarshan) did not praise Jinnah at all, they were evaluating a particular context in history with a scholarly touch."

He also said that the banning of books represents a bad trend,

"We cannot stop others from having different thoughts. The RSS believes in taking all thoughts together in achieving national unity, Bhagwat said. Shreeraj Gudi (ANI)