NEW DELHI: A new biography of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat by Kingshuk Nag argues that the BJP coasted to power in 2014 only because of the RSS and if it does win in 2019, that too, will be because of the RSS.
In “Mohan Bhagwat: Influencer-in-Chief”, biographer Kingshuk Nag, who has authored eight previous books, including a biography of late prime minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, contends that “Modi’s future is in Bhagwat’s hands”.
The author, quoting sources from the top echelons of the Sangh, writes that the RSS “seriously believes” that it was neither Modi’s popularity, nor the UPA’s goof-ups that brought the BJP to power.
“Rather, it is the social change wrought by the continual work done by the RSS over years that created an environment conducive for the BJP. This being the case, Bhagwat believes in keeping Modi under check,” says the book from Rupa publications.
“Though things might be different in 2019, Modi was not Bhagwat’s first choice for the 2014 elections. Modi was promoted as the BJP’s prime-ministerial candidate by the RSS only after the realisation that he was the only man in the party who could possibly lead them to victory. Before the 2014 elections, the RSS seriously doubted that the BJP would win a clear victory but the performance exceeded their most optimistic expectations,” the author notes in the 240-page book.
Nag says that if it was “a do or die battle for Modi, it was the same for Bhagwat” but the reasons were different.
“For Modi, it would be the crowning glory of his political career and ambitions, but for Bhagwat it was a necessary (but not sufficient) condition to create a Hindu Rashtra.”
MODI PURSUES ‘INCLUSIVE GROWTH’
Although Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been a victim of “political intolerance”, yet he embarked on the path of “inclusive growth”, Union Minority Affairs Minister Mukhtar Abbas Naqvi said on Monday as he laid the foundation stone for a proposed state-of-the-art educational institute in Alwar, Rajasthan.
The institute, to come up at Kohrapipli village in Kishangarh Bas of Alwar district, will be the first of the five proposed “world class” educational institutes. It will start functioning by 2020, Naqvi said.
Taking a potshot at the opposition, Naqvi said it is a tough challenge to kill the “termites of corruption” and remove the “stains of failures” inherited from the United Progressive Alliance (UPA) regime.
“But Prime Minister Modi has been successful in fulfilling his commitment for the development of all sections of the society. He has worked with commitment to inclusive growth without any discrimination and he did not allow vote bank politics to dominate government’s decisions,” he said. He said that the Modi government has worked on a “war-footing” to ensure “affordable, accessible and quality education to all the needy, poor students, including those from the minority communities”.
The institute will have a modern skill development centre, educational facilities for primary and higher studies, Ayurveda and Unani science and sports facilities. The Minority Affairs Ministry has proposed 40 per cent reservation for girls in this institution.
“A three-member committee of the Ministry’s officials and members of Maulana Azad Education Foundation has been constituted to chalk out the entire process of this institute.
“Soon, a detailed project report (DPR) will be prepared regarding construction and other process for the institute. The institute will be established through Public Private Partnership (PPP) model,” the Minister said. — IANS
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