By IANS,
New Delhi : The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Friday advised the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) not to jettison the party’s core issues related to Hindutva as it prepares for the Lok Sabha elections under the leadership of its prime ministerial candidate L.K. Advani.
At a five-hour long meeting between the RSS and BJP, considered by many as the former’s political wing, the Sangh leaders asserted that the party should not compromise on ideological issues like the Congress’ appeasement of the minority communities, the Amarnath shrine board tangle, Ram Sethu and terrorism.
The meeting, which concluded late evening, was attended by RSS leaders Mohan Bhagwat and Suresh Soni while from the BJP, Advani, party president Rajnath Singh and senior leaders Arun Jaitely, M. Venkaiah Naidu, Murli Manohar Joshi, Sushma Swaraj, Ananth Kumar and Ram Lal were present.
Sources in the BJP told IANS the RSS leaders insisted that the party should not drop its ideological position on issues related to Hindutva for its strident stance on them had brought the BJP into political reckoning in the country.
The Sangh leaders said that the party’s manifesto for the Lok Sabha elections, expected to be held in the next three to four months, should reflect the party’s firm stance on these issues.
The Sangh leaders also lambasted the BJP leaders for intra-party wranglings and advised them to bury the hatchet, besides telling them to ensure that activities that tarnish the image of the party should be prevented.
Sources said they also made a reference to the alleged theft of some Rs.2.6 crore (Rs.26 million) from the money chest of the BJP’s national headquarters in Delhi.