'Brahmin' outfits slam Bhagwat's remarks, BJP in damage control mode

The brahmin leaders of opposition parties also slammed Bhagwat over the remarks and said that they were reflective of the 'casteist' mentality of the BJP

As the 'brahmin' outfits slammed Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) chief Mohan Bhagwat's remarks on the community and demanded his apology, the BJP, apparently in a damage control mode, sought to blame the opposition parties for what it alleged ;twisting' the remarks out of context for political gains.

BJP MP and state general secretary of the party Subrat Pathak said that Bhagwat had used the word 'pandit' in different contexts and that he did not refer to the 'brahmins'. ''The term pandit was used to denote someone who is knowledgeable...it did not mean the brahmin community,'' Pathak said here on Tuesday.

He said that the opposition parties were 'deliberately twisting' the remarks made by the RSS chief for political gains. ''The brahmin community is too wise to fall prey to the designs of the opposition,'' Pathak added.

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Bhagwat's remarks, which came days before the assembly polls in several states, however, triggered a huge backlash in UP and several 'brahmin' outfits took to the streets to condemn the remarks and demand an apology from the RSS leader.

Scores of members of the brahmin outfit 'Mai Hoon Brahmin Mahasabha' staged a demonstration in Kanpur town on Tuesday and recited 'Hanuman Chalisa' (hymns praising Lord Hanuman) and demanded Bhagwat's apology.

''Bhagwat's remarks are anti-brahmin....he must withdraw them else he will be termed as the Vibhishan (the brother of Ravana, who deserted the demon king and sided with Lord Rama) of the present age,'' the Mahasabha president Durgesh Mani Tripathi said.

The brahmin leaders of the opposition parties also slammed Bhagwat over the remarks and said that they were reflective of the 'casteist' mentality of the BJP. ''BJP has always been a casteist party....it wants to divide the society along caste lines,'' said a brahmin leader of the Samajwadi Party (SP).

Bhagwat's remarks gave fresh ammunition to SP leader Swami Prasad Maurya, who had courted controversy over his remarks on the Hindu epic 'Ram Charit Manas'. Maurya had termed the Hindu epic 'anti-dalit' and demanded a ban on it.

Maurya said that Bhagwat's remarks only lent credence to what he had said about the epic. ''Those protesting against me should now protest against Bhagwat,'' he said.

Brahmins, who formed around 12 percent of the total electorate in the state, had been supporters of the BJP and the remarks might put the saffron party in difficulty in the forthcoming elections.