New Delhi, February 16 – A sharp political confrontation erupted on Monday after the BJP strongly criticised Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge for his remarks against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), asserting that the "nationalist organization" does not require any "certification" from what it described as a "mentally bankrupt" Congress leader.
The BJP's response came a day after Kharge, speaking in Bengaluru on Sunday, accused the RSS – widely regarded as the ideological mentor of the BJP – of engaging in "money laundering" and raised questions about its sources of funding.
"The RSS has a network of more than 2,500 organizations… They take money from them. I am telling that these people are into money laundering," Kharge alleged.
He further questioned why the organisation was not registered and asked whether it considered itself "above the law or the Constitution."
Continuing his attack on Monday while speaking to the media, Kharge said, "Nobody knows how the RSS gets its money. More than 2,000 or close to 2,500 organizations are supporting the RSS through so-called 'dakshinas' domestically and internationally. And they've all been linked to the RSS. Where are they getting money to lobby in the US?"
He further claimed, "Very clearly, the United States government revealed a document saying that the RSS was lobbying for nation-building in the United States. Where are they getting all this money from? The people of India need to know how this so-called cultural organization is destroying the social fabric in the country; it is doing anything but nation building."
The remarks triggered a barrage of counterattacks from BJP leaders, who defended the RSS and accused the Congress of deliberately maligning nationalist institutions.
BJP spokesperson Pratul Shah Deo told IANS, "The RSS is the world's largest nationalist organization, and it does not need a certificate from people like Priyank Kharge, who is sick and mentally unstable. From the freedom movement to the present, the RSS has played a significant role. Even Indira Gandhi had honoured the RSS."
BJP National General Secretary Tarun Chugh also launched a sharp attack, telling IANS, "Rahul Gandhi, along with corrupt princes and princesses of the INDIA bloc, deliberately try to defame nationalist forces, India's brave Army, and India's institutions under a foreign toolkit. This act of theirs is to please their foreign masters, their foreign handlers."
"The RSS, where workers dedicate their entire lives towards the nation, using such language for them, reflects his (Kharge's) mental bankruptcy," Chugh added.
BJP National Spokesperson R.P. Singh challenged Kharge to directly engage with the organization, saying to IANS, "Priyank Kharge, come to a Shakha sometime, attend one weekly Shakha, then you will understand what nationalism is. He deliberately makes such notorious statements."
BJP leader Satish Poonia said Kharge's comments reflected frustration.
"Kharge has earlier also used such abusive language and given such statements, but I feel this is frustration and a kind of despair that is expressed in his words," he told IANS.
BJP National Secretary Om Prakash Dhankar also criticised the Congress, remarking, "It is such that the entire Congress has lost its mind."
