Bhopal, Mar 4: two days after an RSS leader, Kundan Chandrawat, announced a bounty of Rs 1 crore for Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan’s head, the RSS on Friday “relieved” him of his “responsibilities” as sah prachar pramukh (joint publicity chief) in Ujjain. Chandrawat, however, continues to be a swayamsevak.
Malwa prant sanghchalak Dr Prakash Shastri noted that “a misconception has been created about the RSS due to the controversial statement,” and it was not an “official statement of RSS”.
Holding Vijayan responsible for the killings of “more than 300 RSS pracharaks and activists” in the state, Chandrawat on Wednesday announced a bounty of Rs 1 crore on his head, and promised to “offer a garland of three lakh human skulls to Bharat Mata” in revenge.
Sharing the dais with BJP Lok Sabha MP Chintamani Malviya at an event in Ujjain, Chandrawat also reminded the gathering about the riots in Gujarat in 2002.
Several senior leaders came forward to support his removal today. “We can only use constitutionally permitted peaceful methods for raising our issues… The call made by him was outside the accepted methods of RSS,” said RSS’s Delhi prant vice-president Alok Kumar.
About Chandrawat’s continuance as a swayamsevak, Kumar said: “We do not have any formal membership. The immediate act, therefore, is to relieve him of Sangh’s duties.”
Shastri said Chandrawat had “expressed regret and retracted his comment”. However, speaking to The Indian Express earlier, Chandrawat stood by his remarks and claimed that the “positive response” he had received left him “overwhelmed”.
Chandrawat could not be contacted on Friday.
Chandrawat is the second RSS functionary to be removed from an organisational post. Goa prant sanghchalak Subhash Welingkar was removed for speaking against the BJP last year.
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