In a sarcastic remark, Vasundhara Raje, without naming anyone, said people today people cut the finger they once held while learning to walk.
The former chief minister of Rajasthan and senior party functionary Vasundhara Raje said this while fondly remembering the old guards of the Jan Sangh and the BJP.
In a keynote note at a lecture series and Vishisht Jan Samman programme organised by Sunder Singh Bhandari Charitable Trust at Udaipur, Raje said, “Bhandari ji promoted many leaders in Rajasthan, including Bhairon Singh ji, during the bygone era of loyalty which was different from today.
"Those were the days when people believed in what someone did. But today, people try to cut the finger they once used to hold while learning to walk,” she added.
“Bhandari ji did not lie. During the emergency, when the police at the Delhi railway station asked him his name, he told the truth and got arrested. The stature of Bhandari and Shyama Prasad Mukherjee is much bigger than the scope of any dictionary,” she said.
Raje said Dr. Mukherjee opposed the provisions of Article 370, which was removed by Narendra Modi ji’s government.
She recounted how Bhandari remained dedicated to the Sangh throughout his life. "During the British period, when Bhandari ji was told that he could not run a branch without registration, the answer he gave was "I can give up living, but won’t set up a branch,” she added.
She said her mother, Rajmata, formed the Jan Sangh government in MP for the first time in the country in 1967 with Govind Narayan Singh as the chief minister.
She recalled that Bhandari conveyed his happiness through a letter. "Our mother inculcated the values of the Sangh in us since childhood. Many times the Sangh branch was held in our house. We got guidance from patriots like Atal ji, Advani ji, Rajmata sahab, Bhairon Singh ji, Sundar Singh ji Bhandari, Rajju Bhaiya, KS Sudarshan ji, Dattopant Thengadi ji and Kushabhav Thackeray ji,” she said.
In the presence of Assam Governor Gulab Chand Kataria (a veteran BJP leader from Rajasthan), Raje said, “The torch of ideology lit by Bhandari ji was kept burning by Bhai Saheb Gulab ji Kataria.”
She urged the dignitaries of the RSS audience, “Whether we are alive or not is a different matter, our basic ideology should remain alive and flourish.” She said she was making this appeal as a small worker of the party.
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