Virtually daring the Bharatiya Janata Party to snap links with the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh, former party ideologue K N Govindacharya has said the RSS can "walk straight without the crutches of the BJP".
Govindacharya, who parted ways with the BJP a few years ago, accused the party leaders, including its chief Rajnath
Singh, of practising "pseudo-Hindutva". Besides, he dubbed Varun Gandhi's election speeches as "pesudo-Hindutva of the reactionary, irresponsible kind" and "not Hindutva".
In a hard-hitting interview to weekly news magazine Tehelka, he said BJP did not cater to the ideal of Hindutva either as a party in power or as a party in the opposition. "It is not a national party in terms of ideology, policies and conviction," he said about the BJP, adding that it is a party "full of opportunists and careerists".
The BJP leaders are taking to politics "only as a career or a dhanda (business)," he said alleging that their thought process revolves only around power. The interview has come at a time when the BJP's national executive is taking place here amid calls by some leaders for an open debate on the electoral debacle.
Asked how the RSS leadership is viewing the election results, Govindacharya said, "the RSS will have a straight talk with the BJP now and tell it to decide what kind of relationship it wants to have with the RSS." Govindacharya said that "as a responsible Swayamsevak", this is how he reads the mind of the RSS leadership. "The RSS will tell them if you want to go without us don't worry... We feel that we don't need any appendage or any extra baggage. Nor any crutches. RSS can walk straight without the crutches of the BJP. This is the message the Sangh leadership has given to the BJP."
Govindacharya was also harsh on the leadership of Advani, who was projected as the prime ministerial candidate, saying
that
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