Nearly a month after sparking what is now a full-blown political controversy by saying that young Indians must be taught to chant “Bharat mata ki jai”, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh chief Mohan Bhagwat said on Monday that nobody needs to be forced to raise the slogan, reported PTI. Addressing a Bharatiya Kishan Sangh event in Lucknow, Bhagwat said, "We have to create such a great India where people themselves chant 'Bharat Mata ki jai'...We don't want to force anyone... it need not be imposed." This comes after senior Bharatiya Janata Party leader said the controversy over the slogan was meaningless.

The RSS chief said, "[Indians have] to show the way to the people of the world with our life and deeds. We do not want to win or defeat anyone. We don't want to impose our ideology and thoughts on anyone. We wish to show them the path because we accept them as our own." Bhagwat added that the RSS was striving to raise more and more people who were committed to the cause of creating a great India.