The results of the just concluded Lok Sabha elections are unexpected to all, said Dr Manmohan Vaidya, Akhil Bharatiya Prachar Pramukh of RSS in Nagpur on May 19. He was interacting with the mediapersons at Reshambag premises where the third year RSS Sangh Shiksha Varga is underway. Talking informally, Dr Vaidya said the people seem to have voted for a stable government and this is a welcome sign for the democracy. He said with one national party getting a near majority, the regional parties have lost their bargaining and nuisance value. Both the Congress and the BJP, the two main national parties scored over 350 seats out of the 543, is a good omen for the survival of democracy in India, he said.
He expressed concern over the low percentage of voting while replying to a question on appeal by the RSS Sarsanghachalak to the people to vote in the election and his exhortation to the swayamsevaks to ensure 100 per cent voting in the elections. Dr Vaidya said the reluctance of people to vote is serious and dangerous for the democracy.
In a reply to another question he said the BJP must think over the results and own them. They should assess and analyse their performance at the general elections, he added. The RSS will not involve itself in that exercise, he clarified. On the visit of three top RSS functionaries to BJP leader L K Advani, Dr Vaidya clarified that by coincident they (Sarkaryavah Shri Bhaiyaji Joshi, Sahsarkaryavahs Shri Suresh Soni and Shri Madan Das) were in Delhi and went to Advani’s house for a lunch. They did not discuss the issue of leadership of the BJP. That is the issue the BJP would decide and take a decision, he informed.
Defeat of BJP should not be construed as rejection of Hindutva ideology by the voters, Dr Vaidya said in reply to a question. Various regional and other local factors work during the elections and all they have a cumulative effect on the results. On the suggestion that Congress and BJP should come together and form a stable government, he said the parties should decide on it. Whichever party forms the government it becomes the government of the nation and not the government of that particular party.
By Virag Pachpore
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