Zeenews Bureau
New Delhi: A day ahead of the Bharatiya Janata Party`s (BJP) crucial brainstorming session, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat Tuesday said the young generation should take charge and that the party leaders should resolve their differences at the earliest.
Breaking his silence over the leadership crisis in the BJP, Bhagwat said: "It is a universal rule that the young generation must replace the old generation."
Bhagwat made his comments in an interview with a television channel when asked about the aging top leadership of the BJP.
"When, where and how (it happens), they will have to decide the modus operandi," he said, and added that "transition is necessary".
The RSS is the ideological fountainhead of the BJP.
The Sangh Parivar head said it was for the BJP to
judge whether transition can wait till the next generation.
" Yes, they would need to transit to younger generation…”
His comments were immediately welcomed by senior
leader Murli Manohar Joshi who said the RSS chief always has a
right to advice BJP and most of us are from the RSS. So his
advice is taken seriously.
Another leader M Venkaiah Naidu said that the party
always brings younger leaders to the fore and does not believe
in dynasty.
Asked if senior BJP leader Advani should carry on for next five years as leader of opposition, Bhagwat said: "That they will have to decide. If they come and ask for our suggestion, we will give it to them."
About the transition to young leadership by the next general elections, he pointed out: "We have been saying that since 2003. Whenever they ask us how should our party be, we have told them you have young men, bring them slowly forward. At all levels of the party."
"An average age group must be maintained." Asked what should be the average age, he said that it could be 55-60, but not more than 60.
’End factionalism’
Asked about the factionalism in the party, Bhagwat said it had suffered a "nasty jolt" in the elections and must address real issues and put an end to factionalism.
"It was a nasty jolt, quite unexpected, and it destabilized the party. Whatever happened was not very good, even BJP leaders have said this," he said.
In a stern message to the party as it braces for its three-day chintan baithak (introspection session) that begins in Shimla Wednesday, the RSS chief said: "They have to get their balance back and make amends to everything." Bhagwat said the sooner the party does this, the better.
"The BJP leaders express their angst about this (factionalism), they are keen to restore it," he added.
Bhagwat said he had not applied himself to how the party should resolve the differences between its leaders. "I have not given a thought to the internal situation of the BJP. That is not my job. I tell them to sit together and amend things," he pointed out.
He clearly advised the party not to lose sight of its goals. "Their party had a mission and that mission should be kept in sight. They should think where they have gone wrong. The general condition of the party should be paid attention to."
Advani’s future
Asked who should be the next BJP leader, Bhagwat said
BJP should decide that "I can name 75 persons for the job".
To a query whether the RSS has asked Advani to stay
on, he said this was not the topic of RSS.During a transit on
June 1, Advani met him and told him that he took all the
responsibility for the defeat and wanted to resign.
But then he said his colleagues told him that he was
prepared to be the Prime Minister if the party had won and why
he was running away from responsibility now. That was why he
took back the resignation, Advani told Bhagwat.
To a question whether RSS leadership asked Advani not
to resign, Bhagwat said "no, we did not tell anything to
Advani at that time".
When specifically asked about his meeting with Advani
last week and whether he asked him to resign, the RSS chief
said "no. I have categorically said that I did not ask of
Advani anything. I did not issue any directive on that day."
"In the chintan baithak. All sit together and think about it. Personal considerations must be kept away. This is what I told him," Bhagwat said.
He asserted that the party would have to be clear on the ideology and there should be a dialogue with the Sangh as a while also.
"They should be reasonably sound and articulate about the ideology. You should have a collective work pattern and should have dialogue with all the thought brothers. They should have a system of dialogue within them," Bhagwat said.
And added: "Theirs should be a party with a difference and lastly they should bring the young generation forth."
When Advani felt sad about the current situation which
he had not even witnessed in Jan Sangh, Bhagwat told him
"Advaniji, you are a very senior person and a very experienced
person. Just restore everything back in the party."
Asked whether he saw a role for Advani in bringing a
change in the BJP, the RSS chief said " he is very senior and
well respected. If he asks from the workers something, then he
should surely be obeyed."
Asked whether Advani would carry on for another five
years, he said " that is what they will have to decide. If
they will come and ask for a suggestion, we will give it to
them". The BJP received a "nasty jolt" in the elections and
they lost their balance, he said.
"Whatever has happened was not very good. All the
leaders in the BJP feel bad about it and they have to gain
back their balance quickly. They have to think about it and
make amends about it. How it happened, what was the mistake?
They should give thought to in their "chintan baithak".
To a question whether the choice of the next President
of BJP was limited to Arun Jaitley, Sushma Swaraj, Venkaiah
Naidu and Narendra Modi, he replied that it was for the BJP to
decide whether they want to choose from one among the four.
"If they choose to see beyond this four for some
reason......these four should be kept in their places. They do
not have dearth of proper persons."
