Ahead of Stalin's delimitation meet, RSS says North-South divide, rupee symbol issue 'politically motivated'

Bengaluru: Ahead of a multi-state meeting of opposition leaders on delimitation convened by Tamil Nadu Chief Minister M K Stalin, RSS Joint General Secretary (Saha Sarkaryavah) C R Mukund on Friday lashed out at the opposition parties by dubbing the North-South divide as "politically motivated."

“The North-South divide is mostly politically motivated. So is using the rupee symbol in a local language. These things should be addressed by social leaders and not politicians. It’s not good for the country if we quarrel among ourselves,” he said.

Mukund was speaking at a presser after the inauguration of the annual Akhila Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha (ABPS) – the highest decision-making body of the RSS – in Bengaluru. The RSS will observe its 100th anniversary later this year.

He also reiterated Home Minister Amit Shah’s position on delimitation, stating that the ratio of seats in South Indian states will be retained even after the exercise.

“A decision needs to be taken by the central government and it’s not space for the RSS to comment on it. But the home minister has said in Coimbatore that the same ratio will be held even after expansion.”

South Indian states, which are vociferously arguing against delimitation, are worried that if the number of seats in the Lok Sabha remains 545, their number of seats will either be reduced from the current 130 or their ratio of seats (23.8) will be reduced in the event of an overall increase.

‘No resolution on language yet’

Speaking about the sensitive three-language formula, Mukund said the Sangh favoured daily-life exchanges in the mother tongue but clarified that they hadn’t passed any resolution on it yet.

However, he subtly hinted at the three-language formula by stating that the RSS supported teaching the mother tongue, the ‘market language’ and the career language in a state.

Manipur situation

Referring to the strife-torn Manipur which has been in turmoil for nearly two years, the RSS annual report credits a few “action-oriented” decisions by the Central government as having created hopes of an improved situation.

“However, it will take a long time for a natural atmosphere of cordiality and trust to emerge,” the report added.

Mukund pointed out that the RSS currently had 1 crore swayamsevaks, 6 lakh of whom attended daily shakas (RSS camps).“Due to historical reasons, we haven’t got traction in some places. But things have improved over the last 8-10 years. For instance, we have improved in Tamil Nadu, where we have over 4,000 shakas in TN.”