The Gau Seva evam samvardhan (cow protection and preservation) campaign of the RSS and its affiliate groups must go on with full force, the organisation’s sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat told a gathering of RSS workers on Monday. His statement came after several RSS workers sought his reaction to Prime Minister Narendra Modi’s statement on cow protectors.

Mr. Bhagwat also asked the RSS workers to avoid use of caste-related jibes, jokes, or proverbs even in personal conversations.

Addressing RSS workers from Braj, Meerut and Uttarakhand region, the RSS chief said the first inter-caste marriage took place in Maharashtra in 1942 which was welcomed by B.R. Ambedkar and then RSS chief Madhavrao Golvalkar.

Several senior leaders of VHP and Bajrang Dal expressed unhappiness at Mr. Modi’s “anti-socials by night and gau rakshaks by day” remarks against cow vigilantes.

Mr. Bhagwat’s visit was aimed at ironing out difference between the BJP and RSS affiliates, VHP and Bajrang Dal, which had threatened to start a movement against Mr. Modi's statement on cow vigilante groups.

During his stay in Agra, Mr. Bhagwat is expected to discuss the differences between BJP and RSS affiliates as the RSS leadership felt it could snowball into a major point of contention just ahead of the Uttar Pradesh polls and may affect the BJP's prospects in the elections.

“It is no secret that PM Modi’s statement against gau rakshaks has angered the VHP and Bajrang Dal because it is the ordinary member of these two organisations who are working for cow protection. The same lot also works for the BJP at the time of elections. Sangh does not want this to become an issue just before the elections,” a senior Sangh leader who attended the meet told The Hindu.

He advised the workers to approach people with scientific evidence about benefits of cow protection and preservation. Talking about the benefits of Indian cows, Mr. Bhagwat claimed that Brazil imported Indian cow of Gir progeny and developed it to the extent that Gir cow was now held as the world's best cow breed.