Sheshadri Chari, member of the national executive of the Bharatiya Janta Party and former pracharak of the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh and former editor of the party mouthpiece Organiser, spoke exclusively to rediff.com on the sex scandal involving BJP General Secretary Sanjay Joshi.
Joshi, 39, a bachelor resigned on Tuesday after an allegedly sexually explicit video disc featuring him was leaked out during the BJP 25th anniversary celebrations in Mumbai.
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Excerpts:
"The allegations against my colleague Sanjay Joshi are disgusting. This is insinuation. Being a member of RSS and a BJP worker, I know Sanjay well. The allegations are a conspiracy against the BJP and the RSS. It is a conspiracy to keep out Sanjay out of politics.
I feel sorry for him. He is an engineer who has sacrified many lucrative jobs to serve the RSS. He was leading a simple life and looking after organisational work of the RSS as a pracharak, who are not paid workers. They are looked after by the RSS.
I feel sad that just to defame the organisation someone has done this. Just because they were unable to fight the ideology, the conspirators have stooped to this level. Those who have conspired against Sanjay should remember that those who play with fire are doomed to be consumed by the fire.
I am not worried about the allegations made against a person of Sanjay Joshi's stature. I know him well. You cannot imagine a person of his stature being involved in such an act. He has not done it. Not at all!
RSS pracharaks give 5 to 15 years of their lives to the Sangh. Then they can marry and get settled. Marriage is not denied to us, it is not taboo.
The issue here is that he allegedly had a sexual relationship with a woman who is not his wife. This is wrong! That's why we think the allegations are plain lies. The bigger issue here is projecting an RSS leader in the wrong light and framing him in for something he has not done. This is technological manipulation. We are sure about it. I have spoken to Sanjay about it. I am not emotional about this and it is important to nail these lies.
If someone wanted to disgrace the RSS they should have picked up an ideological issue. We don't know who did it. It is a police case now as we have registered a case.
Four or five months back when this episode came up I heard that there were many CDs sent to newspersons. Barring one, everybody rejected it. I am glad the media rejected it. We didn't take it seriously.
But now, he has resigned because he has taken the issue to its heart. The RSS and BJP are with Sanjay.
The RSS has never said sex is wrong. But we believe in certain morals in society. We have stood for them. We believe in family life and value it highly.
We are traumatised because and innocent person has been framed."