To accept NCP or not to: RSS leaves it to BJP

Lucknow, Oct 20: The Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (

) Monday left it to the Bharatiya Janata Party (

) to accept or turn down the offer of unconditional outside support by the Nationalist Congress Party (

) for government formation in Maharashtra.

Talking to media persons after the conclusion of a three-day conclave here, Sah Sarkaryavahak Bhaiyyaji Joshi said the RSS was aware of the offer made by the NCP but added that it "was best left to the BJP to take a call on the issue on merit."

"This is a political issue and should be left to the BJP," he said while answering a poser on whether the Sangh approved of the overtures of the NCP, which was targeted by the BJP during the poll campaign as a corrupt party.

He also ruled out that the Sangh was behind the electoral success of the BJP led by Narendra Modi in the Lok Sabha polls.

Pointing out that while the RSS was a votary of change at the central level as the then dispensation under the "Congress was not good for the country," Joshi said all that the Sangh did was to educate and inform the people that 100 per cent voting was must for progress of the nation.

"We believe in enhancing political participation by more and more people" he said.

Asked whether the Sangh had now set its eyes on Jharkhand, Bihar, Jammu and Kashmir and Uttar Pradesh and would help the BJP in these states when assembly polls were held, the RSS leader said the Sangh treated all states at par and for it was the country -Bharat Mata - which occupied the prime position.

On the U-turn of a "Love Jihad" victim in Meerut and its fallout on the RSS, Joshi said the issue was not new to the organization and it had been happening in various parts of the country for more than 10-15 years.

He also cautioned the media not to give the issue a communal hue as it was a larger social issue and should be read deep into.

He also said that in the next one year, the RSS Swayamsewaks would adopt and develop 250 villages.

The RSS praised the working of the Narendra Modi government at the centre.

IANS