Congress raises RSS chief's comments in Lok Sabha

The Congress in the Lok Sabha Tuesday raised the issue of RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's comments on Mother Teresa wherein he had said the Nobel laureate's service to the poor was aimed at converting them to Christianity. The government, however, refused to respond on the issue.

"The government has nothing to do with such statements. Individual organisations have every right to speak outside (parliament)," Parliamentary Affairs Minister M. Venkaiah Naidu said.

The matter was raised by Congress leader Jyotiraditya Scindia during zero hour.

Bhagwat, while addressing a function of a local NGO near Bharatpur, in Rajasthan had said Mother Teresa's service to the poor was aimed at converting them to Christianity.

Scindia also demanded an explanation from the government on the misprinting of a part of the preamble in a government advertisement, where the word secular had been missing.

Replying to this matter, Naidu said: "There is no question of making any change in the preamble, which was changed in 1976. We do not want to change it. Care will be taken from now to see that the ads contain the amended version of the preamble."

He asked the Opposition to leave the issue and "move forward".