New Delhi, October 31: Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge on Friday once again demanded a ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the country. He said that India’s first Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had also forbidden government employees from participating in RSS activities.
Kharge said, “In my personal opinion, the RSS should be banned. Its ideology is poisonous.”
He made this statement on the occasion of Sardar Patel’s birth anniversary and the death anniversary of former Prime Minister Indira Gandhi. Calling both leaders the “Iron Man” and “Iron Lady” of the country, Kharge recalled their contributions and efforts to maintain national unity.
Prime Minister Modi’s Statement:
On the same occasion, Prime Minister Narendra Modi said that India’s first Home Minister, Sardar Patel, wanted to fully integrate Jammu and Kashmir into India, but then-Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru prevented him from doing so.
Modi said, “Saddar Patel wanted Jammu and Kashmir to be integrated like other princely states. But Nehruji prevented this from happening. Kashmir was given a separate constitution and a separate flag, and the country suffered for decades.”
The Prime Minister described Patel’s role in integrating more than 550 princely states after independence as “making the impossible possible.”
Situation in Karnataka:
The Congress government’s initiative to ban RSS activities in government institutions and public places in Kharge’s home state of Karnataka has suffered a setback. The Dharwad bench has put an interim stay on the order. Justice Nagaprasanna has posted the matter for further hearing on November 17.