NEW DELHI – Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge has demanded a ban on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological front of the ruling BJP, invoking the country’s first home minister Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel and the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
Remembering Sardar Patel on his 150th birth anniversary, Kharge asserted that he united the country, and Jawaharlal Nehru believed that that the Congress stalwart’s contribution was immense.
Addressing a press conference here on Friday, the Congress president said Patel had always maintained that RSS speeches were filled with “poison of communalism”.
It was because of the RSS that Gandhiji was assassinated, Kharge stated.
The Congress chief referred to a letter written by Sardar Patel to Shyama Prasad Mukherjee, in which the then home minister had said the RSS had created an atmosphere that led to the tragedy of Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
Kharge also accused the BJP of distorting history by portraying a rift between Nehru and Patel. “They always tried to portray a rift between Nehru and Patel when they had great ties and both had praised each other,” Kharge remarked.
“While Nehru Ji himself had called Sardar Patel the ‘architect of India’s unity,’ Patel Ji had referred to Nehru Ji as the ‘ideal of the country and leader of the people,’” Kharge recalled.
He further quoted Patel as saying, “In the last two difficult years, no one knows better than me the tireless hard work that Nehru Ji has done for the country. The grand history of the great achievements of the country’s ideal, the people’s leader, the nation’s prime minister, and everyone’s favourite Jawaharlal is an open book before everyone.”
The Congress leader also highlighted that October 31 marks the birth anniversary of Patel and the death anniversary of former prime minister Indira Gandhi. “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,” he said.
“In earlier times, people used to propagate the ideology of the RSS while being in the bureaucracy. In such a situation, a ban was imposed on government employees’ association with political organisations like the RSS and Jamaat-e-Islami,” Kharge pointed out.
“However, on July 9, 2024, the Narendra Modi government lifted this ban, thereby allowing government employees to join the RSS and participate in its activities,” the Congress leader alleged.
Slamming the saffron party, he said the very people who assassinated the Mahatma are today questioning the Congress.
Emphasising that Patel had laid the foundation of democratic ideals, Kharge also demanded that the government restore the ban on government employees from attending RSS events. — With inputs from Agencies
