The average age of MPs in the 18th Lok Sabha is 56 years, up from 55 years in 2019 and the highest ever

After his controversial statement on the BJP’s performance in the 2024 Lok Sabha Elections, RSS leader Indresh Kumar attempted to clarify his remarks by saying the polls show that those who opposed Lord Ram have been defeated while those who set the goal of restoring Lord Ram’s glory are in power.

Mr Kumar had sparked a row yesterday by stating that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) was restricted to 240 seats, well below the majority mark, in the recently concluded Lok Sabha polls due to its “arrogance”. Speaking at an event near Jaipur on Thursday, Mr Kumar said, “The party which did bhakti of Lord Ram and became arrogant was stopped at 240; however, it became the biggest party.”

“And those who had no faith in Ram were stopped at 234,” he said, referring to the INDIA bloc. “See the ‘Vidhan’ of Ram Rajya in democracy; those who did ‘Bhakti’ of Ram, but gradually turned arrogant, emerged as the biggest party; however, the vote and the power that they should have been given was stopped by God due to arrogance.”

Mr Kumar’s remarks sparked a row. The RSS leader sought to mitigate the damage by clarifying, “The mood of the country is very clear at present. Those who opposed Lord Ram are not in power; those who set the goal to respect Lord Ram are in power and the government has been formed for the third time under the leadership of Prime Minister Narendra Modi.”

Mr Kumar’s remarks follow RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat’s statement a few days ago. Mr Bhagwat had said that a true ‘sevak’ should serve people without arrogance and maintain dignity.

The RSS yesterday sought to quell the suggestions of a rift with the BJP and that Mohan Bhagwat’s recent critical references related to the Lok Sabha polls were aimed at the ruling party, insisting that such claims are just speculation meant to create confusion.

“There is no rift between the RSS and the BJP,” RSS sources said, amid assertions by a section of people, including opposition leaders, that Mr Bhagwat’s remarks, including “true sevak is never arrogant,” were a message to the BJP leadership following its below-par performance in the polls.

“There was not much difference in his (Mr Bhagwat’s) speech from what he had given after the 2014 and 2019 Lok Sabha polls. Any address is bound to make a reference to an event as important as national elections. But it was misinterpreted and taken out of context to create confusion. His ‘arrogance’ remark was never directed at Prime Minister Narendra Modi or any BJP leader,” the sources said.

In his speech, Mr Bhagwat had on Monday expressed concern over peace eluding Manipur even after one year of conflict, criticised the common discourse during polls, and called for moving on instead of unnecessary discussion on the what and how of the elections after they were over and results were out.

Opposition leaders had seized on his remarks to take a swipe at the BJP and PM Modi. Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh had said, “If not the ‘one-third’ Prime Minister’s conscience or the repeated demands of the people of Manipur, perhaps Mr Bhagwat can prevail upon the former RSS office-bearer to go to Manipur.”

Such claims by the opposition leaders are nothing but politics meant to spread confusion, the RSS sources said.

Billionaire Elon Musk’s X has asked its sacked employees in Australia to return the money it claims was accidentally overpaid to them, the Sydney Morning Herald reported.

The social media platform, formerly known as Twitter, acknowledged its error in currency conversion from the US to Australian dollars on the payments and asked its former employees to repay amounts of up to $70,000 in some cases, the report said on Wednesday. 

The currency conversion errors made by X when employees were paid their entitlements after they were fired had reportedly led to overpayments of between $1,500 and $70,000. According to the report, at least six former X staff have received legal notices.

“It has come to our attention that you received a significant overpayment in error in January 2023,” the Sydney Morning Herald quoted X’s Asia Pacific human resources department as saying, citing an email to several former employees this year.

“We would be grateful if you could arrange the repayment to us at your earliest convenience,” it added.

Elon Musk-led company also said that the overpayment was related to “deferred cash compensation” in the form of employee shares issued to the staff when they joined Twitter.

X has been accused in multiple suits of numerous labor and workplace violations, including failing to pay severance to thousands of workers fired after Musk’s $44 billion acquisition in 2022.

Earlier last year, thousands of former Twitter employees said they were cheated of severance pay when the billionaire laid them off after acquiring the social media platform.