Ram Temple not political issue, but matter of faith of entire Hindu society: senior RSS leader Vaidya

Bhubaneswar (Odisha) [India], Oct 16 (ANI): RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya on Wednesday said that Ram temple is not a political issue instead it is a topic connected to the faith of the entire Hindu society.
Vaidya was speaking at a press briefing after a meeting of the Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal. The three-day-long programme got underway here from Wednesday and chief Mohan Bhagwat and deputy chief Suresh Bhyaji Joshi along with all regional heads of the organisation are participating in the issue.
"Ram Temple is not a political issue, this is the issue of faith of Hindu society. Ram Mandir issue is related to society's faith. The way the court's proceeding is going on we have hope that a decision will come soon. We have seen the delay before on this issue but now the court has taken the matter for its conclusions," he said.
Commenting on the abrogation of Article 370, Vaidya said, "Article 370 was temporary. During the discussion on a private bill in 1964, the leaders decided to end it and during the former Prime Minister Narasimha Rao government in 1994, there was a unanimous resolution of all parties to abolish the article. It was the national consensus, but no government has taken the decision regarding this, however, this Government took the decision to remove Article 370."
Speaking about the meeting, Vaidya said, "This is a yearly meeting of RSS workers in the district. This meeting happens twice in a year. Once in October before Diwali and another in March."
"During the meeting in October, no resolutions are passed and we generally discuss about issues and programmes in the Sangha," he said.
Explaining the meaning of a shakha he said, "Shakha is an event where a group assemble for an hour in the morning and in the evening. It is different from attending a meeting because attending shakhs require presence regularly. That is why it is called Daily Shahkha."
The senior RSS office bearer said that there was an increase of over 1,500 shakhas this year compared to the previous year.
"As of now, there are 57,411 daily shakhas which is an increase of 1,585 compared to last year in October. There are weekly shakhas or Saptahik Milans numbering 18,923 in the country which is an increase of 1,879 from last year," the RSS leader said.
"We have identified 5,000 villages where Swayam Sevaks are working for the development of those villages. Out of them, 500 villages have shown good results," he added. (ANI)