With conciliatory efforts going on in full swing to woo Swami Ramdev back to the saffron folds after the saint showed ambivalence regarding his support for the 2019 general election, the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat came to Haridwar on Monday to preside over the valedictory function of the three- day congregation of the saints- Sadhu Swadhyay Sangam- held at Patanjali Yog Peeth Phase 2. Notably, the RSS chief has come just three days after the BJP national head Amit Shah came to Haridwar to inaugurate Acharyakulum run by Patanjali. The back to back visits of the two saffron stalwarts are seen to be part of the damage control exercise ahead of the 2019 general elections. However, Swami Ramdev made his annoyance clear with the NDA government at the Centre while urging the religious fraternity to make their own arrangements instead of depending on the government for assistance. Observers say that he meant the Prime Minister Narendra Modi without naming him.
“Desh ka wazir aur ameer sadhu ki upeksha kar raha hai (Those heading the country and the affluent people are ignoring the saints). The sadhus thus should not expect much from them,” Swami Ramdev said. He further said that Patanjali had taken up service projects worth crores of rupees. “The rich offered us assistance. But we chose to depend on our own means. We never accepted the offer,” he said and added, “Those who are helming the government might be strong, but the real strength is resting with the saints and the ascetics.”
The not- so- veiled dig at the Centre when coupled with his warning that the skyrocketing of prices of essential commodities might cost the Narendra Modi-helmed government dear at the upcoming hustings is enough to be taken as a warning signal from the Patanjali family and the followers to the incumbent regime, say the observers. They add that the professed neutrality of Swami Ramdev and his Patanjali family ahead of the high-stake general election as contrasted to their full-throated support to the saffron camp during the 2014 election has left the BJP apparatchiks deeply worried.
The RSS chief said that one who works in the interests of the country must try to continue being in power. “Maybe, the country will reap the fruits of the good initiatives taken now later, but such people who are committed to serving the country must be allowed to remain in power. What is important is that good work must continue,” he said.
Speaking of the Ram Mandir issue, Bhagwat said that even the opposition parties are not as shrilly critical of the construction of the temple as before. “This is because the opposition leaders have realised that the majority of the people in India revere Lord Ram as the god of their heart,” he said and added that the construction of the temple is just a matter of time.
