RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat appeared to take another swipe at Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Thursday, referencing the God-like aspirations of some ambitious people.

He said some people, despite being human, lacked human qualities and they should inculcate it first.

The Opposition was quick to pounce on his remarks as yet another indicator of trouble in the Sangh Parivar with All India Congress Committee communications in-charge Jairam Ramesh billing it as a missile from Nagpur aimed at Lok Kalyan Marg, the Prime Minister’s official residence.

Addressing a village-level workers’ meeting at Bishnupur in Jharkhand’s Gumla district, Bhagwat’s choice of words to explain that there is no end to development gave rise to speculation. The example he gave to explain his thoughts was that of an ambitious man who attempted to become a superman, then a devta (deity) and then assume vishwaroop (form of the world).

“There is no end to progress and development is such a thing. However, if a man reaches there (a point of development) but does not have humanity, then in such a situation he should first become a real human being. There is always scope for more. On reaching the height of development, a man wants to become a superman…,” said Bhagwat.

He added: “After becoming a superman, a man does not stop there, he feels he should become a devta, so he wants to become a deity but then the deity says that bhagwan is bigger than us so he wants to become bhagwan. But god says that I am the vishwaroop. Right now, I am visible in one form, but my form is without form, spread in the world. From this, we can say there is no end to development.”

Congress state-level leader and spokesperson Rakesh Sinha said that the remarks made by the RSS chief had shown that even the parent organisation of the BJP was not “liking the pride and arrogance” of Modi.

“It is clear from the RSS chief’s statements that the pride and arrogance of Prime Minister Narendra Modi is not liked by them too. We will see its fallout in the Assembly polls in Maharashtra, Haryana, Jharkhand and Jammu and Kashmir,” said Sinha.

Ranchi-based JMM spokesperson Manoj Pandey said that the television interview of the “non-biological” Prime Minister claiming to have divine powers brought to the fore pride never witnessed in Indian politics and Bhagwat’s statement might be an “indication of this”.

Replying to media queries on the BJP not getting close to the majority mark in the Lok Sabha polls, Sangh publicity in-charge Sunil Ambedkar, during a prant pracharak (divisional publicists’) meeting of the RSS held in Ranchi last week, had said that political parties should respect the people’s verdict.

Since the declaration of the election results, there have been several statements from RSS heavyweights that have been widely construed as critical of the BJP and its personality politics epitomised by Modi himself.

Modi’s statement in an interview to a TV channel during the poll campaign that he believed himself to be a “non-biological” person sent to the world by God has been viewed as not just an attempt to assume God-like status but also silence criticisms against his way of functioning.