L K Advani praises Pranab’s speech at RSS event

As Pranab Mukherjee’s speech at RSS headquarters continued to create ripples, veteran BJP leader L K Advani on Friday said such dialogue will help in creating a “much-needed atmosphere” of tolerance and harmony in the country while the former president’s daughter tweeted that her warning has come true.

As Advani issued a statement to praise Pranab’s scholarship and statesmanship, the
former president’s daughter and Congress leader Sharmistha tweeted that her warning to her father about the message his visit would send has come true citing a morphed photo of him doing an 'RSS salute'.

The RSS decried efforts where a fake photo was circulated as 'dirty tricks'.

In a statement, Advani described Pranab’s visit to Nagpur to address RSS cadres and his “illuminating exposition of the noble idea and ideals of Indian nationalism” as a “significant event” in our country’s contemporary history. Congratulating RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for inviting Pranab and the former president for his “grace and goodwill” in accepting the invitation, he said there was a significant concord and resonance in the views expressed by both leaders.

“As a lifelong swayamsevak of the RSS, I believe that these two national leaders have truly set a praiseworthy example of dialogue transcending ideological affiliations and differences,” he said.

While commending Bhagwat for expanding the RSS and his efforts to reach out to various sections in the “spirit of dialogue”, he said, “Such conversations, conducted in the spirit of openness and mutual respect, will surely help in creating a much-needed atmosphere of tolerance.”

Two days after she warned Pranab that not his speech but fake statements would be circulated in his name, Sharmistha took to Twitter citing a fake photo of Mukherjee at RSS function, “See, this is exactly what I was fearing and warned my father about. Not even few hours have passed, but the BJP/RSS dirty tricks department is at work in full swing”.

On its part, the RSS strongly condemned “such tricks by divisive political forces is to deliberately defame the RSS.”