Mohan Bhagwat says RSS not dictatorial, praises Congress for role in freedom struggle: Key takeaways

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Chief Mohan Bhagwat, in a lecture on September 17, spoke extensively about the Sangh's organisation, ideology and programmes.

The lecture, which is a part of the three-day 'Future of India' event being held at Delhi's Vigyan Bhawan, was attended by representatives from different sections of society, including academia, business and the film industry.

Here are some of the key takeaways from Bhagwat's address:

The RSS chief said that the conclave was intended to improve people's understanding of the Sangh and its functioning.

"This event has been organised for people to understand the RSS. Because today, it has emerged as a power in the country which is felt by the world," Bhagwat said.

In his nearly 80-minute long speech, Bhagwat asserted that the RSS is the "most democratic" organisation and is not dictatorial in its operation.

Rejecting criticism that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) is controlled by RSS, Bhagwat maintained that neither does the Sangh impose its ideology on anyone, nor does it remote-control its various affiliates.

"Sangh is the most democratic organisation. We run by consensus. Here every worker can express his views. There are no restrictions... We have started our work to make a certain kind of people and society and we do not want anything else," the RSS chief said.

"People often believe that the RSS is a dictatorial organisation and that one man decides everything... If you want to see the most open organisation, then you should come to Sangh. There is no restriction," he said.

The 68-year-old leader applauded the work done by the organisation members and called it "incomparable".

"Its (RSS) work gets advertised automatically when its power increases. And when its work gets popular, then people try to learn more about it. And then few people target Sangh out of fear of its increasing power which is quite natural," Bhagwat said.

"The work of Sangh is unique and beyond comparison. And thus from known to unknown, it is impossible to understand Sangh," he said.

The Sarsanghchalak (top-most post within RSS) also spoke about the freedom movement and expressed a rare praise for its ideological opponent the Indian National Congress.

"In the form of the Congress, a huge freedom movement fledged in the nation. It too gave birth to a number of all-sacrificing great personalities who continue to inspire us today. That movement managed to inspire ordinary people to join the freedom struggle. It had a huge hand in us achieving Independence," Bhagwat said.

"Congress played a big role in freedom movement and gave India many great personalities," he added.

Bhagwat said that the organisation, considered as the ruling BJP's ideological mentor, is not concerned by who will be in power.

"Who will be in power, what policy the country will accept is something to be decided by the society and people. There are mechanisms in place for that... We are not concerned about that, what we are concerned about is the conduct of the society," he said, adding that the Sangh does not believe in publicising an individual's work and wants to remain faceless.

Prominent personalities present at the lecture included E Sreedharan, Manisha Koirala, Anu Malik, Anu Kapur, Manoj Tiwari, Chetan Chauhan, Nawazuddin Siddiqui, Amar Singh, Swapan Dasgupta and Madhur Bhandarkar.

Union Ministers Dr Harshvardhan, Vijay Goel, Arjunram Meghwal and Alphons Kannanthanam, and several BJP leaders including Ram Madhav, Ram Lal and Subramanian Swamy were in attendance.

Opposition leaders snubbed the event. Many political parties denied receiving an invitation for it.

Reports from earlier had suggested that the leaders of opposition parties, including Congress President Rahul Gandhi and Communist Party of India (Marxist) Secretary General Sitaram Yechury, would be invited.

According to a media report, the subject for September 18 will be 'Why the RSS is seen as an organisation that seems to court only Hindus.'