Aim Is to Ensure That Saffron Flag Flies High: BJP MP Anant Kumar Hegde

"We (Bharatiya Janata Party) are not aiming to defeat someone or even to rule. Our goal is clear. The saffron flag (a symbol of Hindutva and flag of the RSS) must be flying in front of us. The whole world should respect the saffron flag,” these are the words of the current Union Minister of State for Skill Development and Entrepreneurship, and Member of Parliament (MP) for Uttara Kannada constituency, Anant Kumar Hegde. Hegde is infamous for spelling out the true mission of the BJP time and again. This time speaking at a BJP’s avalokana sabhe (self reflection meeting) on May 20, 2019, in Mundagoda of Uttara Kannada district, he admitted that establishing and nourishing Hindutva is the goal of his party.

The general elections are over and the results are to be announced on May 23, 2019. In this situation, it is important to note how blatantly the Hindutva forces are functioning since 2014. This has been possible only because the current central government led by Narendra Modi has been actively recruiting and appointing the members of the RSS to ministerial and other key government positions like Chief Minister and Governors of the states. Even for appointments to senior positions in universities people have been picked from among RSS members.

According to the data put together by NewsClick, out of 75 union ministers, 29 who are currently in term and three former ministers (Late Anil Madhav Dave, Faggan Singh Kulaste and Mahendra Nath Pandey) have been a part of the RSS. Out of 29 governors, 15 of them have a RSS background; out of the 16 Chief Ministers of the BJP-ruled states (before the Assembly elections in Chattisgarh, Rajasthan and Madhya Pradesh), 12 of them were from the RSS. This shows the way in which, an otherwise “non-political” and so-called cultural organisation, gets to participate in politics of the country. This represents the mission of hoisting the saffron flag that Hegde is speaking of, which in a way has already started.

Also Read: Puppet-master RSS is Taking on a More Open Role in the Indian Democracy

Previously, addressing the gathering in an event organised by the Brahmana Yuva Parishad in Koppala district on December 25, 2017, Hegde had referred to the Constitution of the country as Ambedkar Smriti. He had said, “Smriti means laws of the land in that particular time. We had Manu Smriti, similarly we had Parashara Smriti and now we have Ambedkar Smriti.” Continuing his speech on the Constitution, he had said, “A few people say the Constitution mentions the word secular, so you have to agree. Because it’s there in the Constitution, we will respect it, but this will change in the near future. The Constitution has changed many times before. We are here and have come to change the Constitution. We will change it.”

Also Read: Normalising the Abnormal is the Strategy of BJP

Prajavani, a Kannada daily also has reported Hegde to have said, “Let people say whatever they want to say. The only reason for us (BJP) to be organised is to save our religion and culture. This is the only reason as to why lakhs of people have taken up the membership of the party in the first place. Our goal and guru (master) is the saffron flag.”

In the same speech he is also reported to have predicted the Lok Sabha election results. Sounding like the RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and the recent exit polls of most of the mainstream media channels, he went to declare that the BJP alone would cross 300 seats and the NDA would cross 400 seats.