Mumbai: The Shiv Sena on Wednesday said that the Rashtriya Swayam Sevak (RSS) headquarters has become the “second seat of power” in the country and it does not deem anybody fit for the president’s post except Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat.
The Uddhav Thackeray-led Shiv Sena, which has strained ties with ally BJP, had earlier also suggested that Mr Bhagwat be made the next President of India. However, Mr Bhagwat had dismissed such suggestions and asserted that even if his name is proposed, he “will not accept it”.
The Sena said that the ambitions of some strong contenders for the president’s post may have got derailed post the apex court order in the Babri case. It wondered if some “new calculations” were made when senior BJP leader Murli Manohar Joshi called on Bhagwat last week. Notably, top BJP leaders L.K. Advani, Joshi and Uma Bharti will be tried for criminal conspiracy in the 1992 Babri Masjid demolition case as the Supreme Court last week allowed a CBI plea for restoring the charge against them.
An editorial in Sena’s mouthpiece Saamana on Wednesday said: “Advani and Joshi are BJP veterans. Their contribution in the formation and rise of the party is
Immense.Though they may not have much work in the party after a new generation of BJP leaders have taken over but there are attempts being made to gauge if they have any importance left in the upcoming presidential polls”.
Referring to the meeting between Mr Joshi and Mr Bhagwat, it said anything could happen if the RSS chief wishes. “Did the meet between the two mean that Joshi was making some new calculations with Bhagwat?” the Sena said.
