Amidst the backdrop a Supreme Court bench currently hearing petitions seeking legal validation of gay marriage, a survey backed by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), has termed homosexuality a “disorder” which it claims will spread further if same-sex marriage is legalized.

According to the survey released by by Samwardhini Nyas, an affiliate of the women’s wing of the RSS, doctors and medical professionals unequivocally believe homosexuality to be a disorder which must not be allowed to spread.

A senior functionary of the Rashtra Sevika Samiti—the women’s wing of the RSS—claimed that the Samwardhini Nyas survey was based on on 318 responses collected across the country covering medical practitioners from eight different pathies of treatment from modern science to Ayurveda.

The functionary claimed that the in their response to the survey, almost 70 percent of the doctors and allied medical professionals classified homosexuality as a disorder while 83 percent of the respondents “confirmed transmission of sexual disease in homosexual relations.”

The Rashtra Sevika Samita affiliate said that as per the survey over 67 per cent of the doctors in their response to the  questionnaire felt that homosexual parents cannot raise their offspring properly.

The RSS-affiliate said that survey clearly demonstrates that legalizing same-sex marriages would create disorder in the society instead curing those afflicted by homosexuality and helping them become normal again.

The right-wing group also batted for counselling as a “better option” to “cure homosexuality-afflicted” people from a “psychological disorder.”

The survey recommended that public opinion must be taken into account before a decision is made on the demands seeking legal validation of gay marriages.

A five-judge constitution bench of the Supreme Court comprising, Chief Justice D Y Chandrachud and justices S K Kaul, S Ravindra Bhat, P S Narasimha and Hima Kohli, is currently hearing a batch of pleas seeking legal validation of same-sex marriage in India. The hearing commenced on April 18.

As per the RSS-backed survey, over 57 percent of respondents did not favor the Supreme Court’s intervention in a sensitive social issue like homosexuality.

Prime Minister Narendra Modi on Saturday held a mega roadshow in Karnataka capital Bengaluru, four days ahead of the Assembly elections in the BJP-ruled southern state.

PM Modi’s 26 kilometer long roadshow kicked off from Someshwar Bhavan RBI Ground in Bengaluru South and culminated at  Sankey Tank in Malleshwaram after about three hours even as a massive crowd waving BJP flags and the Prime Minister’s portraits on placards, was witnessed lined up on both sides of the road, who waved and cheered as he the rally passed by.

According to reports PM Modi’s road rally passed through parts of south and central Bengaluru while covering around a dozen Assembly segments.

Bengaluru South MP, Tejasvi Surya, and Bengaluru Central MP, PC Mohan, accompanied PM Modi on the roadshow who was seen mounted atop a specially designed vehicle as he greeted and waved at the enthusiastic crowd amid deafening chants of ‘Modi, Modi’, ‘Jai Bajarangbali’, ‘Bharat Mata ki Jai’, and slogans in favor of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).

Flower petals were showered at the Prime Minister at several places along the route who reciprocated the gestured by showering the petals back at the ecstatic crowd.

Karnataka BJP sources claimed that tens of thousands of people had lined up on both sides of the road to welcome the Prime Minister.

Visuals from the roadshow showed the entire 26 km stretch decorated with BJP flags on either sides of the road while thousands workers and supporters of the party wearing saffron caps and shawls, marched along amid tight security

The BJP on Friday had modified PM Modi’s two-day roadshow in Bengaluru in view of National Eligibility cum Entrance Test (NEET) exam.

The mega road rally was divided into a two-day event, a large roadshow today and a shorter one tomorrow (May 7) to avoid any inconvenience to the public, according to BJP sources.

Indian defence forces on Saturday grounded its fleet of the indigenous Dhruv Advanced Light Helicopter (ALH) following three crashes in the last two months.

The decision was taken as a precautionary measure to prevent and this is the second time when the entire fleet of the Dhruv ALH has been grounded. ALH Dhruv helicopters were grounded for more than a month and were resumed a few days back. However, two crashes took place that involved the Indian Navy and Indian Coast Guard.

The most recent accident took place on May 4 in Jammu and Kashmir’s Kishtwar district after the helicopter crashed due to a technical snag. The incident killed one technician who was on board, while both pilots sustained injuries.

Reports said an ALH Dhruv helicopter was on an operational mission and made a precautionary landing on the banks of the Marua River in the Kishtwar region. The pilots had reported the technical fault to the Air Traffic Controller and proceeded for a precautionary landing.

The helicopter, however, crashed due to the undulating ground, undergrowth, and unprepared landing area.

The ALH helicopters are used by all three defence forces—Army, Navy, and Air Force, along with the Indian Coast Guard. The three services operate around 300 variants of the ALH, with the army accounting for the most – 96 ALHs and 75 armed versions called Rudra.

Earlier, ALH operations were grounded in 2006 due to tail rotor problems and in 2014 following a crash.