MUMBAI: The RSS has taken a strong objection to the possible appointment of a Delhi-based freelance journalist Ashok Wankhede as the Officer on Special Duty (OSD) to Lok Sabha Speaker Sumitra Mahajan. It has registered its reservation to the BJP against Wankhede’s appointment alleging that he could put Mahajan in trouble because of his anti-Modi stand.
Wankhede, a staunch critic of Prime Minister Narendra Modi, is likely to be made Mahajan’s OSD on insistence of some senior BJP leaders. His name in the race for the post has surprised many in the party too.
BJP general secretary (organisation) Ram Lal and Shyam Jaju are against his appointment. They argued that Wankhede’s appointment will send a wrong signal to the party’s cadre. “I am familiar with Wankhede’s anti-BJP activities. He will be a burden for us,” Jaju is said to have told his seniors.
An RSS leader here alleged that Wankhede would help the Congress more than the BJP. “He had taken an open stand against Modi and the BJP in TV debates during the elections. We have asked the BJP to consider this matter seriously,” the leader said. He said that the organisation will find out who recommended Wankhede’s appointment and who were his guardians in the BJP.
The RSS leader said the RSS had asked the Prime Minister to issue instructions to appoint its workers as OSD or one of the personal secretaries to the Union ministers. Ram Lal was empowered to choose and pick the workers as government officials.