Bihar BJP comes to Bhagwat's defence

PATNA: The Bihar BJP on Monday strongly defended RSS chief Mohanrao Bhagwat for his claim that husband-wife relation in India was a contract in which wife manages household affairs and husband is the earning member for the family. It blamed the media for distorting his discourse on the Indian marriage system that otherwise was underlined by a comparison of western and Indian perspectives.
The party also upbraided Rajya Sabha member Shivanand Tiwary, national spokesman of the JD (U), its NDA constituent and coalition partner in the Nitish Kumar-led state government, for dubbing Bhagwat and Majlis-e-Ittehadul Muslimeen leader Akbaruddin Owaisi in Andhra Pradesh as 'ek hi thali ke chatte batte (two sides of the same coin)'. It described Tiwary as being both 'vote ke thekedar (contractors of votes)' and a 'representative mind of pseudo-secularism' that looks only at its vote bank, disregarding national concerns about country's unity and integrity.
Articulating the party line, minister for animal and fishery resources Giriraj Singh, who has roots in the RSS, said the relation between wife and husband had always been considered and presented as 'janma janmantar ka rishta (predetermined lifelong relationship)' in the Indian 'sanskriti and samskar (culture and rituals)'.
"Bhagwat belongs to an organization that is wedded to upholding and propagating Indian national culture and civilization. The RSS works tirelessly for the unity and integrity of the country. He (Bhagwat) does not look at things to garner votes," Singh said.
With regard to Tiwary's equating Bhagwat and Owaisi, Singh said, "Such a comparison is condemnable in strongest terms. He is a pseudo-secular and it reflects the mindset of such people who have their eyes only on vote bank even if it compromises with the unity, integrity culture and civilization of India."