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Narendra Modi backs RSS claims on Sankar

He lauded the contributions of R Sankar.

KOLLAM: Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Tuesday tried to link the legacy of R. Sankar with that of the Jana Sangh by saying that Sankar had invited Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, the founder of Jana Sangh, for the first conference of Hindu Mandalam, a broad Hindu coalition initiated by Nair leader Mannath Padmanabhan and Sankar.

Mr Modi, who was addressing the gathering after unveiling the statue of the former chief minister and Ezhava leader at the SN College ground, was at pains to back the RSS claims over R. Sankar’s legacy which the Congress had refuted.

“R. Sankar and Mannath Padmanabhan had formed a great organisation called the Hindu Mandalam and the Jana Sangh leader Shyama Prasad Mukharjee was invited to address its meeting. Though Mukherjee could not attend the event due to health issues, he met Sankar when he came to Thiruvananthapuram on another occasion,” he said. Mr. Modi also pointed out that Mr. Sankar was an invitee of an all-India conference held by Jana Sangh in Kanpur.

Pointing out that he belonged to the backward class, Mr. Modi said no one need teach him about their sufferings. He lauded the contributions of R. Sankar, and maintained that he was not among the ‘practical politicians’ who make only compromises.

Amid the controversies over excluding Chief Minister Oommen Chandy from the function on the advice of the BJP, Minister K.P. Mohanan, who was deputed to accompany Mr. Modi during his visit to Kerala, was conspicuous by his absence.

Mr Modi’s bid to link R. Sankar and Nair patriarch Mannthu Pad-manabhan and Jan Sangh founder Syama Prasad Mookerjee have provoked a hail of protests. Sankar’s son Mohan Sankar and daughter S. Sasikumari, strongly disapproved of BJP’s moves to “misappropriate” Sankar’s legacy.

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( Source : deccan chronicle )
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