Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) national president JP Nadda has said that the it has grown from the time his party needed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) any longer, adding that the BJP is capable of running itself.
The founders and presidents of the Bharatiya Jana Sangh (BJS) were members of the RSS and BJS was formed with some core principles of RSS. The later presidents of BJS were also swayamsewaks of RSS. And BJP being a succession from the BJS, its core principles draw similarities with the RSS.
The RSS is an “ideological front” and does its own work, JP Nadda said in an interview with The Indian Express.
“Shuru mein hum saksham honge, thora kum honge, RSS ki zaroorat padti thi… Aaj hum badh gaye hain, saksham hai… toh BJP apne aap ko chalati hai ([n the beginning, we would have been less capable, smaller and needed the RSS. Today, we have grown and we are capable. The BJP runs itself]. That’s the difference," JP Nadda said in the interview when asked how the RSS presence has changed between the time of Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee and now.
Asked if the BJP no longer needs RSS support now, JP Nadda said, “See, the party has grown and everyone has got their own duties and roles. RSS is a cultural and social organisation and we are a political organisation…"
"It’s not the question of need. It’s an ideological front. Woh ideologically apna kaam karte hain, hum apna [They ideologically do their work, we do ours]. We are managing our affairs in our own way. And that’s what political parties should do,” JP Nadda added.
Nadda also said the BJP had no plans for temples at the disputed sites in Uttar Pradesh's Mathura and Kashi.
“The BJP does not have any such idea, plan or desire. There are no discussions either. Our system works in a way in which the party’s thought process is set by the discussions in the Parliamentary board, then it goes to the national council which endorses it,” the Indian Express quoted him as saying.
Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh is an Indian right-wing and Hindu nationalist organisation. As per RSS website, "Expressed in the simplest terms, the ideal of the Sangh is to carry the nation to the pinnacle of glory, through organising the entire society and ensuring protection of Hindu Dharma."
