Did RSS’s Hosabale criticise govt over poverty, unemployment? BJP says no, Modi said it too

 New Delhi: Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) general secretary Dattatreya Hosabale’s comments highlighting India’s poverty, unemployment and inequality at a Swadeshi Jagaran Manch (SJM) event Sunday have created a stir, as they seem to “target the BJP-led central government”.

While BJP spokesperson Gopal Krishna Agarwal said the party “does not have a particular stance on what Hosabale said, but he has underlined some of the challenges which are common”, some leaders from the Congress — which is holding a Bharat Jodo Yatra against the rising inflation and unemployment — took the remarks as an opportunity to attack the Centre over the state of the economy.

Congress general secretary in-charge of communication Jairam Ramesh tweeted in Hindi:  “Look at the effect of BharatJodoYatra. Those who break the country and spread poison in the society, today they are raising the issue of poverty, unemployment and inequality to increase their reach [sic].”

Political experts were divided on the significance of the statement made by the senior leader of the RSS, the ideological mentor of the BJP.

Political analyst Rahul Verma, a fellow at Centre for Policy Research, does not consider it as criticism of the BJP government. “The RSS has often acted as the conscience keeper of the BJP. Even during the Atal Bihari Vajpayee government, the RSS and affiliated organisations like Bharatiya Kisan Sangh and Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh used to make demands and protest against government policies,” he said.

But, another political analyst Rasheed Kidwai pointed out that “what Hosabale has said is something very obvious, but the open-ended question can be whether a section of RSS or BJP leaders are at variance”.

At a webinar hosted by the SJM, Hosabale had compared poverty to a demon which has to be slayed.

“Over 20 crore people who live here are below the below poverty line. Around 23 crore people are having an income of Rs 375 per day. Unemployment rate is also very distressing at 7.6 per cent. There is poverty, unemployment in the country but we also need to discuss the rising inequality,” he asserted.

“Even when India has managed to be among the top six economies in the world, we can’t say all is well. One percentage of the population in India holds 20 per cent of the country’s wealth, while 50 per cent has 13 per cent of wealth,” the RSS general secretary said. “We must do something about this economic inequality.”

In January, the Sangh-affiliated SJM, along with seven other right-wing organisations, had launched the ‘Swavalambi Bharat Abhiyan’ (SBA), which aims to make India unemployment-free by 2030. Sunday’s event, ‘Swawalamban ka Shankhnaad’, was part of a series of events being organised under the SBA banner.

On its part, the SJM has often raised issues relating to unemployment but links it to the country’s colonial past and alleged failure of the previous governments.