After the ‘hug and wink’ drama in the Parliament (which was dutifully lapped up by the darbari media), the Congress party has now shown its true color. The Grand Old Party showed that how much inherently intolerant it is when it comes to dissenting views.
The senior Congress leader Mallikarjun Kharge has said that “there is no question” of the Congress President or anybody from the party attending an RSS event. When Kharge was asked about the RSS’ reported invite to Gandhi scion to a lecture schedule in next month, Kharge said, “Let the letter (of invitation) come first. This (invitation) is all in view of elections.” Mallikarjun Kharge further said that the Congress party is fighting an ideological battle with the RSS and the party also sacrificed Chief Minister’s post in Karnataka to keep the saffron outfit and the BJP out of the power. Kharge further added, “In Karnataka, a small regional party (Janata Dal-Secular) has 37 MLAs and we have 80. But we gave up the chief minister’s post to that party to strengthen secular forces. So there is no question of (Gandhi or any other Congress leader) going to the RSS headquarters.”
Mallikarjun Kharge, while speaking, didn’t care about the basic decorum. He was so much blinded by his hatred for the RSS that he termed them as a “poison” for the country and for Dalits and other oppressed classes. Mallikarjun Kharge said, “If Rahul sahab asks me about going there (to the RSS event), I will tell him that there is no question of going there. That there is no intention of joining such people.”
A party like Congress calling RSS poison is no less than a joke. It is the very same party which has absolutely no compunctions about providing patronage to Muslim extremists like Zakir Naik but has problem with a nationalist organization which has time and again helped the country in the time of crisis. The relation between the Congress and RSS were not always acrimonious like this. In fact, the Congress and RSS have shared a long and fascinating history. From Mahatma Gandhi attending their event to RSS being invited by Jawaharlal Nehru to attend Republic Day, there are several instances of mutual respect. Lal Bahadur Shastri used to often invite Shri Guruji (the then RSS Sarsanghchalak M S Golwalkar) for consultation on national issues and very recently senior Congress leader and the former President Pranab Mukherjee attended an event of Sangh in Nagpur.
However, since Rahul Gandhi has taken control of the Congress party, he has attacked the RSS constantly, blaming it for every ill in the country. He has also accused the RSS of murdering Gandhi for which the Supreme Court roasted him, and rightfully so. Rahul Gandhi also alleged that the 11 people killed in the police firing at an anti-Sterlite protest was because they did not follow RSS ideology. Rahul Gandhi has been unnecessarily targeting the Sangh constantly, dragging the organization into every issue that surfaces across the nation. His political mentor, Digvijay Singh released a book about the alleged involvement of Sangh in the 26/11 Mumbai terror attacks and has also called Arvind Kejriwal an RSS agent. Both the student and teacher have a stellar record blaming RSS for anything and everything wrong happening under the sun and many other senior Congress leaders like Mallikarjun Kharge also started spewing venom against the Sangh. Their rant shows the intolerant nature of the present Congress leadership and the recent episode cements the fact that the Congress is chronically averse to any contrary idea.