A letter written by former Railway Minister and senior Congress leader Jaffer Sharief to Prime Minister Narendra Modi asking him to make RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat as the next President of the country has brought jitters among the Congress leaders in Karnataka. The letter sent to PM heaped praise on 66-year old RSS chief and his commitment to abide by the Constitution of India and respect for all religions.
After former Chief Minister and Foreign Minister SM Krishna who has quit the century old party and joined the BJP, this letter bomb by Sharief has triggered a major political controversy and the ruling Congress leaders are fuming for making such a statement against the stand of the party.
In another development recently a close confidant of Krishna and former Union Minister and a staunch Congress leader MV Rajashekharan had written a letter praising Modi and his administration.
As the caste equation goes it is politically significant that SM Krishna is a Vokkaliga, MV Rajashekharan is a lingayat both are belonging to dominant communities which control the State politics and Sharief from a minority community has irked the ruling party ahead of Assembly polls 2018.
In fact, Bhagwat had earlier this week said that he would prefer to continue working for RSS and not in the race for the top post.
He had even said that he will not accept the post of President even if such an offer was made. This issue grabbed eyeballs when Shiv Sena, a key ally of the ruling BJP-led NDA government, through its mouthpiece Saamna, threw its weight behind Bhagwat.
Going against the party stand Sharief's letter irked the Congress which is facing uphill task in the 2018 assembly elections. The Congress has made it clear that it would block any move to make Bhagwat the President. "It is very clear that we do not support RSS ideology," Congress spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi had said. The letter from Sharief is a hot potato for the Congress and many disgruntled leaders in the party might desert the Congress ahead of the assembly polls which is crucial for the party to keep its forte intact.
President Pranab Mukherjee's term is scheduled to end on July 25. He had taken over as the 13th President of India on July 25, 2012.