When RSS Shunned Purohit, the Other Malegaon Blast-Accused, for a 'Murder Plot'

'Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Friday defended his party’s decision to field Pragya Singh Thakur as its candidate from Bhopal, saying it was a symbolic response to those who falsely labelled the glorious Hindu civilisation as “terrorist”. Modi accused the Congress party for creating “false narratives” on saffron terror. However, there was a time when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent of Modi’s party, had tried to distance itself from the “activities” of Lt Col Prasad Srikant Purohit and his associates, which included Thakur. In a letter to then Prime Minister Manmohan Singh, the RSS had bemoaned efforts at casting “false aspersions” on it by associating the outfit with the activities of Purohit and his associates, whom it claims were also plotting to kill RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and senior leader Indresh Kumar. In a letter dated February 9, 2011 addressed to Singh, RSS sarkaryavah, or general secretary, Suresh ‘Bhayya’ Joshi said investigating agencies had evidence that “plotters were organising a chemical attack on Bhagwat” and “had given a pistol to a named specific person to eliminate Indresh Kumar”....'