During a press conference in Kochi, Kerala’s Tourism and Public Works Minister, P A Muhammad Riyas, challenged the state’s BJP unit to clarify its position after an editorial in the RSS mouthpiece ‘Organiser’ questioned the celebration of Christmas and New Year. Riyas asked, ‘Will those who rejected the Vichara Dhara, be prepared to reject Mohan Bhagwat’s stand in the cover story of the Organiser?’ His reference was to comments made by BJP leader M T Ramesh, who had previously stated that some of the views in ‘Vichara Dhara’ (Bunch of Thoughts), a compilation of speeches by RSS ideologue M S Golwalkar, were outdated. Ramesh’s comment was in response to Riyas’ earlier challenge to the BJP to reject the views in ‘Vichara Dhara’ which targeted Christians.
The discussion around ‘Vichara Dhara’ and the ‘Organiser’ arose from the BJP’s attempt to attract the Christian community in Kerala, including visiting Christian households on Easter and recruiting Christian leaders from other parties. The move is seen as part of the party’s strategy to gain support from the minority vote bank.
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