Congress MP Shashi Tharoor has said that the RSS’s fundamental objective remains to advance the idea of India as a Hindu nation and promote Hindutva, although he believes there has been a noticeable change in the organisation’s public messaging in recent years.
Speaking at the 15th anniversary of the India International Movement to Unite Nations (IIMUN) in Mumbai on Thursday, Tharoor said he viewed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s interaction with Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha as a positive development.
Tharoor says RSS messaging has changed
Tharoor said he had been closely observing the statements and messages coming from the RSS for nearly a decade.
According to him, there has been a “clear change” in the way the organisation communicates, even though its core ideological position has remained unchanged.
He said the RSS was established with the objective of advancing the idea of a Hindu nation and Hindutva, and that this basic ideology continues to guide it.
Bhagwat interacts with Gen-Z, Gen-Alpha
RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat interacted with young people from Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha for about an hour in Mumbai on Thursday.
During the interaction, Bhagwat said that the younger generations are more patriotic and honest than the older generation. He also rejected the perception that Gen-Z is anti-national.
Tharoor says Rahul Gandhi’s campaign failed to connect with people
Tharoor also spoke about the issues raised during nationwide student protests. He said several of the concerns raised by the CJP during the protests had already been highlighted by Congress leader Rahul Gandhi through his ‘Students’ Echo’ campaign.
However, Tharoor said Gandhi’s campaign failed to generate the same level of public support or connect with people in the way the later student movement did.
He claimed that the Congress had raised many of these issues months before the student movement gained prominence.
Bhagwat’s youth outreach comes amid student protests
Bhagwat’s interaction with Gen-Z and Gen-Alpha is being seen as an important outreach effort by the RSS towards younger voters and students.
The interaction comes against the backdrop of protests over the NEET paper leak controversy, which had triggered widespread anger among students and opposition parties.
