Bengaluru:
Karnataka Congress leader and ex Railway Minister Jaffer Sharief on Saturday went against the party stand as he backed RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for President, reports said.
"There should not be any doubt about his (Bhagwat’s) patriotism," he said. Moreover, he has also written to Prime Minister Narendra Modi backing Bhagwat.
"There are different schools of thoughts in India and it is but natural for such a vast country. Shri Mohan Bhagwat may belong to one school of thought but there should not be any doubt about his patriotism, love for the people of India, loyalty to the nation," Sharief said in his letter to Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
Congress, the main opposition party, has earlier said that it would block any move to make Bhagwat the President of India. "It is very clear that we do not support RSS ideology," Congress spokesperson Gaurav Gogoi had said.
Earlier this week, the Shiv Sena had said that Bhagwat as India's next President was a good idea.
However, Mohan Bhagwat has made it clear that he is not in the race for the post of President of India for which the elections are to be held in July this year.
"Somebody with a clean image should occupy it. We have heard that Mohan Bhagwat's name is being discussed for President. If India has to be made a Hindu Rashtra, Bhagwat will be a good choice for President," Sena's Sanjay Raut had said.
President Pranab Mukherjee's five-year term ends on July 24 this year.
