ELECTIONS

Ayodhya not shining, says RSS

By Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
March 05, 2004 22:17 IST

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh and its constituents are clearly unhappy.

While the BJP goes to town with its India Shining campaign, the RSS and other Sangh Parivar constituents want the focus to be shifted to the traditional issues.

RSS spokesman Ram Madhav told rediff.com that all Sangh Parivar constituents are unanimous that issues like the Uniform Civil Code, construction of the Ram temple in Ayodhya and trifurcation of Jammu and Kashmir should be in BJP's vision document.

Madhav while admitting that it is the BJP's prerogative to take up specific issues said the RSS-BJP meeting today zeroed on the inclusion of contentious issues in the vision document of the NDA.

The RSS representatives included H V Seshadari, Mohan Bhagwat and Madandas Devi, while Prime Minister Atal Bihari Vajpayee, Deputy Prime Minister Lal Kishenchand Advani and BJP chief M Venkaiah Naidu were representatives of the BJP.

"Today's discussions took place on issues about the BJP plans to go to the election and what are the expectations," he said. "Venkaiahji said the BJP was quite confident about the polls. Our (RSS) leaders said that that its supporters also want Atalji's government to come back."

While saying that RSS cadres were willing to canvass for the BJP, he said,  "It is the BJP's responsibility to ensure that the RSS cadres are mobilised in its favour."

"All our cadres want to see Atalji as the prime minister again. But the initiative goes to the BJP," he said.

Asked if the BJP agreed to their demand for the inclusion of contentious issue, he said, " I think that more or less the BJP is agreeable to this idea."

Referring to the issue of trifurcation of J&K, Madhav said it was nothing new. The Parivar, he said, has been demanding making Jammu a state, Ladakh a union territory and giving protection to 'nationalist Muslims'.

Tara Shankar Sahay in New Delhi
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