Cong-free India merely political slogan, says RSS-chief Mohan Bhagwat

Pune: Underlining the RSS's "inclusive" character, its chief Mohan Bhagwat on Monday said slogans like 'Congress-mukt Bharat' were mere political phrases and not part of the language of the Sangh.

Top brass of the BJP, which considers the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as its ideological mentor, has often talked about a 'Congress-free India'.

"These are political slogans. It is not the language of the RSS. The word 'mukt' (free or liberated) is used in politics. We never use the language of excluding anyone.

"We have to include everyone in the process of nation building including those who oppose us," Bhagwat said at a book launch function in Pune.

Speaking in parliament in February, Prime Minister Narendra Modi had said he was pursuing Mahatma Gandhi's dream of a 'Congress-mukt Bharat' and accused the grand old party of eulogising the Gandhi family when in power, at the cost of the country's development.

Bhagwat was in the city to launch six books written by Dnyaneshwar Mulay, a 1983-batch Indian Foreign Service officer, who is currently secretary (Consular, Passport, Visa and Overseas Indian Affairs) in the Ministry of External Affairs.

Stressing the need for a "positive approach" to bring about change, the RSS chief said those with a negative approach would think only of conflicts and divisions.

"Such a person is not at all useful in the process of nation-building," he said.

The Sangh chief also said one of the ways of looking at Hindutva was having faith in oneself, one's family and the country.

"If one has faith in himself, his family and the country, he can work towards inclusive nation-building process," he said.

Praising Mulay for his efforts to reach out to the common man through his work, Bhagwat said the country needed officers like him who were connected with their motherland.