In my personal opinion, RSS should be banned, says Mallikarjun Kharge

Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday (October 31, 2025) hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi after he attacked the party on Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel’s birth anniversary, and cited Patel’s remarks criticising the RSS following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.

Noting that today is the birth anniversary of Patel and death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi, the Congress president said these two great leaders — “iron man” and “iron lady” — made a big contribution to the country and strived to maintain unity.

This is the history of the Congress and its contribution, Mr. Kharge said at a press conference here.

Mr. Kharge cited a letter written by Patel to Syama Prasad Mookerjee in which the then-Home Minister said the RSS had created an atmosphere that led to the tragedy of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.

They always tried to portray a rift between India’s first Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru and Patel when they had great ties and both had praised each other, Mr. Kharge said, adding that Nehru hailed Patel for shaping India’s unity and Patel called Nehru an ideal for the country.

Responding to a question on banning RSS, Mr. Kharge said, “It is my personal opinion, it should be done” as most of the issues and law and order problems are arising because of the BJP-RSS.

Mr. Kharge’s remarks came after Mr. Modi said Sardar Patel wanted to unite the entire Kashmir, just as he did with other princely states, into India, but then Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru did not allow it to happen.

Mr. Modi also said the Congress inherited the slave mentality from the British who ruled India. The country is removing every trace of colonial mindset, he added.