Rahul says stands by words on RSS; BJP hits back

A day after telling the Supreme Court he had not blamed the RSS as an organisation for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination but only people linked to it, Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said he stands by his comments and will never stop fighting the "hateful and divisive agenda" of the RSS.

However, the Bharatiya Janata Party strongly reacted to Gandhi's stand in the Supreme Court as also his tweet on the issue. It asked if Rahul Gandhi can be blamed for the crimes committed by Congressmen.

"I will never stop fighting the hateful and divisive agenda of the RSS. I stand by every single word I said," Rahul said in the tweet.

On August 24, Rahul Gandhi's counsel Kapil Sibal told the Supreme Court that the Congress leader had not blamed the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) as an institution for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi, but the people associated with it.

Sibal said this while referring to an affidavit filed by Rahul Gandhi before the Bombay High Court, challenging the defamation proceedings against him launched by RSS worker Rajesh Madhav Kunte.

Kunte had said that the Congress leader, in his election speech at Sonale in Maharashtra on March 6, 2015, had allegedly blamed the RSS for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination.

The case is pending before a magisterial court in Bhiwandi in Thane district of Maharashtra.

Rahul Gandhi on Thursday also uploaded the video of his election speech at Sonale on Twitter.

BJP spokesman Shrikant Sharma cited the murder cases of Bhanwari Devi in Rajasthan and Naina Sahani in Delhi in which Congress leaders were involved and said going by Rahul's logic, he could be blamed for the above-mentioned crimes.

"What Rahul Gandhi would like to be called? A murderer," Sharma said.

Convicted for Bhanwari Devi's murder, former Rajasthan minister and Congress leader Mahipal Maderna is serving a jail term while Congress leader Sushil Sharma is serving life imprisonment for his wife Naina Sahani's murder, known as the infamous Delhi tandoor case.

Sharma told IANS: "Rahul knew he cannot speak a lie in the court; so he has again started spreading lies about the RSS outside the court. He was dragged to the court in this matter but still he is not ready to make amends."

Sharma said that Gandhi should "learn lessons from history".

"Neither (the then Prime Ministers) Indira Gandhi nor Rajiv Gandhi could harm the RSS. Even Sonia Gandhi and Manmohan Singh ruled the country for 10 years but they could not harm it. Where is Rahul Gandhi?" he said.

--IANS

bns/tsb/sac