On first day of three-day strategic meet, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat gives social equity call for Makar Sankranti
BHOPAL: The crucial three-day coordination meeting of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with its associated outfits for poll-bound Madhya Pradesh and Chhtattisgarh started in Vidisha district of MP from Thursday.
The Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat chaired the meet which was attended by 425 members of 35 anusangik sangathans (associated outfits), including leaders of ruling BJP, Vishwa Hindu Parishad, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bhartiya Kisan Sangh and Bhartiya Mazdoor Sangh.
Later in the day while addressing a function to mark the ongoing Ekatm Yatra of BJP government in MP, the RSS chief gave a call of social equity for the upcoming Makar Sankranti festival.
The meeting which is being attended by members of associated outfits from RSS’s Madhya Kshetra region (Madhya Bharat, Malwa, Mahakaushal and Chhattisgarh) is being seen as a key meet by the Sangh to take stock of the situation and chalk out strategy in BJP-ruled MP and Chhattisgarh, where assembly polls are slated towards the end of the year.
The meeting assumes significance as its being held six days after BJP national president Amit Shah met the RSS chief on the sidelines of Shaivya Mahotsava in Ujjain on January 5, where Madhya Pradesh chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and BJP national general secretary Kailash Vijayvargiya too were present.
The three-day coordination meet being chaired by the RSS chief is taking place amidst speculations of Kailash Vijayvargiya and former MP chief minister and current union minister Uma Bharti likely to return to MP politics.
Informed sources present at the meeting told The New Indian Express that the first session of the meet focused on broad-basing the activities of the Sangh and associated outfits to the most deprived sections, including the tribals and other weaker sections.
RSS chief gives Makar Sankranti call
Later in the day RSS chief shared the stage of ongoing Ekatm Yatra with MP chief minister Shivraj Singh Chouhan and his wife Sadhna Singh. The yatra is a state government campaign from all corners of MP for collecting metal pieces and soil to install a 108-food statue of Adi Shankaracharya on the banks of river Narmada at Omkareshwar (Khandwa) in MP.
Addressing the gathering the RSS chief gave a call for greater social equity on ground zero starting with the festival of Makar Sankranti on January 14. “Each of us should start this from Makar Sankranti by visiting the houses of the deprived sections working for us, including our barbers, laundry person, those cobbling our shoes and those working in our homes. We should visit their homes and celebrate the festival with them by gifting them food items made of sesame and gur. The start should be made this Sankranti and be replicated during the Hindu New Year celebrations as well as other important festivals, Raksha Bandhan,” said Bhagwat.
The MP CM, who had met the RSS chief in the morning in Bhopal promptly announced to execute Bhagwat’s call with his better half Sadhna Singh, starting from Makar Sankranti.
The Sangh chief’s Makar Sankranti call assumes significance after the January 1 Dalit-Maratha caste violence in Maharashtra and its after effects in other parts, including MP.