Mohan Bhagwat: ‘True sevak is never arrogant… in polls, decorum was not kept’

In his first public remarks on the outcome of the elections in which the BJP fell short of a majority in Lok Sabha, RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat said Monday that a true sevak (one who serves the people) does not have “ahankar” (arrogance) and works without causing any hurt to others. Referring to the bitter poll campaign, he said “decorum was not maintained”.

Addressing a gathering of RSS leaders and workers following the culmination of Karyakarta Vikas Varg – a periodic training programme for RSS workers – at Nagpur on the day the new BJP-led coalition held its first Cabinet meeting, Bhagwat also underlined the importance of building consensus.

He also reiterated the Sangh’s concern over continuing violence in Manipur and asked who was going to pay attention to the problem on the ground. He said it had to be dealt with on priority.

“Jo vastavik sevak hai, jisko vastavik sevak kaha ja sakta hai, woh maryada se chalta hai… Uss maryada ka paalan karke jo chalta hai woh karm karta hai lekin karmon mein lipt nahi hota. Usme ahankar nahin aata ki maine kiya. Aur wahi sevak kehlane ka adhikari rehta hai (A true sevak maintains decorum while working… The one who maintains decorum does his work, but remains unattached. There is no arrogance that I did this. Only such a person has the right to be called a sevak),” he said.

The RSS chief made these remarks at a time when the BJP and Sangh have held discussions post the poll results and a new coalition government is taking charge at the Centre.

He said elections should be viewed as a competition, and not war.

“The kind of things that were said, the way the two sides castigated each other (during the elections)… the way no one cared about social divisions being created because of what was