Thursday, March 16 2006 19:19 Hrs (IST) - World Time -

New Delhi: Apparently seeking to win back his hardcore Hindutva constituency after the Jinnah interlude, Leader of Opposition L K Advani has asserted that India's soul was 'Hindu' and described RSS as a 'power house', a 'university' and the 'biggest movement' of the 20th century.

In an article written for Hindi weekly 'Outlook' ahead of his controversial 'National Integration Yatra' which is yet to get the full backing of the Sangh Parivar, he says, "the concept of Hindu Rashtra is wide and liberal which the critics of the Sangh either do not want to understand or ignore it despite understanding it."

In this regard, he recalled that Bharatiya Jan Sangh (earlier avatar of BJP) founder Pandit Deendayal Upadhyaya had stated that both India and Hindu were "synonymous" and hence "there is no scope for a controversy on the term Hindu Rashtra."

"It is our belief that the identity and soul of this nation is Hindu. The meaning of the word Hindu is not in the communal sense. Whenever people ask me why India is successful as a democracy compared to other developing countries, I say that only due to Hindus, the country is both democratic and secular", said Advani, who had to step down as BJP President after a spat with RSS over the Jinnah episode.

While Arya Samaj and Ramakrishna Mission were influential in the 19th century, "the biggest movement of 20th century and thereafter was the RSS", he said adding if it was a "power house prior to Independence, it is a university now."

The ultimate aim of the RSS, he said was the nation's holistic development and it was expected to be done by RSS volunteers only.