After calling for “Sangh-mukt Bharat [RSS-free India],” Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar on Monday slammed the RSS again, saying its ideology was not good for the country. He urged all those who were opposed to the Sangh to unite against it. However, Mr. Kumar defended his 17-year alliance with the BJP, saying it was a “tactical and strategic partnership.”
Asked about JD(U) Rajya Sabha MP Anil Sahani’s alleged involvement in the LTC scam, Mr. Kumar said he should have first resigned from Parliament and then proved his innocence in court.
“The RSS ideology is not good for the country and that is why I oppose them … they want to divide the country on communal and caste lines … confuse people by spreading rumours … there should be tolerance in a divergent country like India,” said Mr. Kumar on the sidelines of his weekly ‘Janata Durbar.’
He said he was not opposed to the RSS “on individual basis” but was “ideologically” against it. “It is time all non-BJP parties and others opposed to the RSS united across the country. Our main objective is to stop the BJP from coming to power in the 2019 parliamentary poll,” he said.
On whether he would like to lead the anti-BJP front in the 2019 Lok Sabha poll, Mr. Kumar said: “I do not know this but I have floated an idea to parties opposed to the RSS and the BJP, both ideologically and politically, to come together on a common platform.”
On who would be the leader of the proposed anti-BJP formation, Mr. Kumar said, “We have a number of able leaders … leadership is not an issue at the moment,” He, however, dismissed any suggestion that he was in the race for the Prime Minister’s post.
Earlier, reacting to Mr. Kumar’s proposal for a “Sangh-mukt Bharat,” the BJP attacked the JD(U) leader for having been with the BJP and the RSS for 17 long years, and becoming Union Railway Minister and Bihar Chief Minister as part of the alliance. “It was the same BJP and RSS with whom Nitish Kumar co-existed for 17 years,” said Bihar BJP leader Sushil Kumar Modi.
Mr. Kumar had even attended the birth anniversary of Shri Guruji, the second sarsanghchalak of the RSS, in 2006, claimed Bihar BJP president Mangal Pandey.
Published - April 18, 2016 10:26 pm IST
