At Sangh meet, clamour grows for mandir and Modi

Ram temple and Narendra Modi were once again the focus of the Sangh Parivar gathering at the Maha Kumbh mela in Allahabad on Thursday.

The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh wants a government that will ensure a mandir comes up in Ayodhya, its chief Mohan Bhagwat said, as the 10,000-odd saints in attendance rooted for the Gujarat chief minister as the country’s next prime minister.

The Vishwa Hindu Parishad-organised Dharam Sansad had Wednesday, too, witnessed BJP chief Rajnath Singh and VHP’s Ashok Singhal express their commitment to a Ram temple.

On Thursday, Bhagwat asked Hindus to stop depending on others and instead, rise to the occasion and achieve the target themselves. “We should be alert so that whoever forms the government will either get the temple made or be made to do it.”

Touching on the controversy over home minister Sushil Kumar Shinde’s remarks, the RSS chief said those who speak of Hindu terror don’t understand the nation for in India, Hindu interest means national interest.

“Violence and terrorism have never had a place in the RSS or the Sangh Parivar,” he added.

Meanwhile, the clamour to make Modi the BJP’s prime ministerial candidate for 2014 got louder. Bhagwat described the Gujarat strongman as a “friend” but refrained from saying more. The others didn’t hold back, though.

VHP veteran Giriraj Kishore said Modi was “every inch” capable of becoming PM. “Not UPA, not NDA, only Modi is the need of the hour,” said Vasudev Prapannacharya, a religious leader.