Would not call RSS as 'Sangh Parivar' from now onwards: Rahul Gandhi

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi said he would no longer call the RSS as "Sangh Parivar" as there are "women in a family and elderly people are respected" which is not the case in the RSS

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Thursday said that he would no longer call the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as "Sangh Parivar" as there are "women in a family and elderly people are respected" which is not the case in the RSS.

"I do not believe that RSS and its organisations should be denoted as 'Sangh Parivar'. A family has females, elderly members are respected and there's a feeling of compassion and love, which is not there in RSS. I would not call RSS as 'Sangh Parivar' from now onwards," the Congress leader tweeted in Hindi.

Gandhi had earlier taken on the 'Sangh Parivar' following the alleged harassment of Kerala nuns in Uttar Pradesh, saying the incident was a result of the "vicious propaganda" run by the 'Sangh Parivar'.

"The attack in UP on nuns from Kerala is a result of the vicious propaganda run by the Sangh Parivar to pitch one community against another and trample the minorities. Time for us as a nation to introspect and take corrective steps to defeat such divisive forces," he had tweeted on Wednesday.

Bahujan Samaj Party (BSP) chief Mayawati had also condemned the incident and said that it is a matter of 'grave concern' that heinous crimes, especially related to the safety of women, are not stopping in Uttar Pradesh.

On Wednesday, Kerala Chief Minister Pinarayi Vijayan wrote to Union Home Minister Amit Shah urging him to take action against Bajrang Dal members and police officers of Jhansi who allegedly harassed four nuns while they were travelling, by train from New Delhi to Rourkela in Odisha.

Vijayan said that the nuns were forcefully removed from the train by the Jhansi Police

without the presence of women police officials and despite nuns showing the Aadhar ID cards, police did not accept those cards, stating that they are fake and kept them at the police station till late night.