... Rajendra Singh alias Rajju Bhaiyya, the RSS chief ... addressed a group of about 55 top bureaucrats, including the Chief Secretary and the DGP (in Lucknow) on 25 July, 1998

In his 45 minutes lecture, he reportedly advised the bureaucrats on how they could emerge as ideals before the public they were supposed to serve. The tete-a-tete was arranged by Higher Education Minister Dr. N.K.S.  Gaur, with the help of some senior IAS officers, all of them alumni of the Allahabad University.

The session has generated much heat and intrigue in bureaucrats circles, and questions are being asked about the propriety of the entire affair. A senior IAS officer ... said. "how can offices of the elite service attend a lecture by a person who heads a politico-religious organisation. It is against our all-India service rules".

Another bureaucrat wondered whether this was not a covert effort at training the State s officialdom with a certain political colour, "saffron, may be". ... The "saffron sermon" has caused ripples among the State's bureaucracy. Bureaucrats - not Allahabad University alumni - are understandably left wondering about the message that goes out to the State's officialdom through such an event ..

Samajwadi Party ... demanded that the Chief Secretary and the DGP be removed from their posts for attending the lecture ... UP Congress spokesman, Ram Kumar Bhargava said, "this is a blatant move by the BJP to politicise the bureaucracy". He said the BJP had started a "dangerous trend" which should be nipped in the bud at the earliest ..

(Source: The Hindustan Times, 27 July, 1998)