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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge pays tribute to Sardar Patel in New Delhi on Friday (ANI Photo)
Congress chief Mallikarjun Kharge Friday said the RSS should be banned as most law and order problems in the country are arising because of BJP-RSS. He also said Prime Minister Narendra Modi has insulted the legacy of Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel by allowing government employees to be associated with the RSS.
PM Modi had attacked the Congress on Sardar Patel’s 150th birth anniversary on Friday, saying the party did not follow the tall Congress leader’s vision of uniting India. Kharge hitback at the PM citing Patel’s remarks criticising the RSS following the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi in 1948.
Asked at a press briefing in Delhi about the government lifting the ban on government employees associating with the RSS, Kharge said, “Naturally he (PM Modi) is disrespecting our Vallabhbhai Patel ji, who himself gave all the reasons why he banned the RSS and there is no ambiguity”.
On whether he supported a ban on the RSS, Kharge said, “It is my personal opinion and I will say it openly, it should be done” as most of the issues and law and order problems in the country are because of the BJP-RSS.
The Congress chief, who is also the LoP in the Rajya Sabha, said Patel wanted to bring in unity and peace and he fought for it. “Patel had banned the RSS in the aftermath of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination,” said Kharge.
“Anyone who tries to break that unity should be taught a lesson. And, you know who are those people who are breaking that unity,” said the Congress chief.
Kharge also alleged that references to Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, the RSS and the 2002 Gujarat riots have been removed from NCERT textbooks and accused the PM of “distorting the truth”.
BJP condemns his remarks
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The BJP Friday condemned Kharge’s remarks about the RSS and accused him of speaking the language of the Popular Front of India (PFI), Muslim League and Jamiat Ulema-e-Hind.
BJP MP and national spokesperson Sambit Patra said the Congress president should read about the history of the RSS and the country before making such “objectionable” comments.
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