New Delhi: Former Vice-President (V-P) Jagdeep Dhankhar Friday delivered his first public handle since his sudden resignation in July, praising the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and extolling the values of the “Hindu spirit”, as he launched a ebook by Sangh joint common secretary Manmohan Vaidya in Bhopal.

Dhankhar was the chief speaker on the occasion that happened in Kushabhau Thakre Conference Centre in Bhopal.

Vaidya’s ebook, the previous V-P mentioned, “dismantles long-propagated myths portraying the RSS as ultra-right, anti-minority and even linked to Gandhi’s assassination”.

He added that the criticism of former President Pranab Mukherjee for visiting the RSS headquarters in 2018 was an try at dampening a “nationalistic stance”.

“The extremity and enormity of the condemnation appeared boundless. It was orchestrated to emerge as a story to dampen a nationalistic stance. But Pranab Da, one of many tallest statesmen of his time, put your entire controversy to relaxation by reflecting within the customer’s ebook on the birthplace of the RSS founder Dr Keshav Baliram Hedgewar: ‘Right this moment I got here right here to pay my respect and homage to a terrific son of Mom India’,” mentioned Dhankhar.

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First Public Engagement since July 

Dhankhar stepped down from the publish of Vice President of India on the primary day of the Monsoon Session of Parliament on 21 July this 12 months, citing well being causes. On Friday, after touchdown in Bhopal, the 74-year-old headed straight to the Madhya Pradesh Raj Bhavan. On the airport, he was greeted with the absence of BJP leaders.

Congress Rajya Sabha MP Digvijaya Singh took a swipe on the ruling social gathering’s absence, saying the BJP values solely those that matter in its scheme of issues.

“They (BJP) observe the use and throw coverage. I can not say the identical for the RSS since he (Dhankhar) has come right here to attend their occasion,” Singh advised reporters in Bhopal.

Though Dhankhar cited medical causes for stepping down, political insiders recommend his resignation was prompted by a critical breakdown in his relationship with the federal government, successfully forcing him to stop.

His extended absence from the general public eye had prompted the Opposition to recommend that Dhankhar had been put beneath home arrest by the federal government.

In an interview to ANI in August, Union Dwelling Minister Amit Shah sought to place a lid on the speculations, saying Dhankhar had resigned solely as a result of medical causes.

‘Indispensable Bharat’

The previous Vice President mentioned a religious thread has held “Bharat collectively by means of each trial, however Islamic invasions and British colonialism”.

“It’s this internal energy that has enabled Bharat to face up to and survive each try and tame it, subdue it or annihilate it, and to outlive not merely intact however with dignity and confidence. This spiritually anchored system, Sanatan, everlasting but ever-renewing, displays the distinctive functionality of a civilisation to reinvent itself whereas preserving its elementary essence,” he added.

In his speech Friday, Dhankhar additionally praised the present dispensation—with out naming both the BJP or Prime Minister Narendra Modi—in an obvious transfer to dispel any notion that his falling out with the federal government may have been bitter.

“In recent times, the nation has phenomenally accelerated its progress—rising as one of many world’s fastest-growing economies, advancing environmental stewardship, pioneering cost-effective house missions, and increasing entry to schooling and alternative. On international diplomacy Bharat has held by itself evoking respect and accolades,” he mentioned.

(Edited by Sampurna Panigrahi)

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