Assam PCC chief urges Pranab Mukherjee to reconsider decision

Assam Pradesh Congress Committee chief Ripun Bora today urged former president Pranab Mukherjee to reconsider his decision to address the June 7 RSS conference at Nagpur.

The former president is at present a non-political person with high esteem but the entire country remembers him as a veteran and dedicated Congressman, Bora said in a letter to Mukherjee.

His presence at the conference will have far reaching repercussions and negative impact in the socio-political scenario of India and therefore "I urge you to reconsider your decision," Bora said.

"It is very surprising that you (Mukherjee) are going to attend the meeting of such an organisation which is totally opposed to the Congress' ideology of secularism, which is not only the basic foundation of the Constitution but also the social fabric of our Nation," he said in the letter.

"You are one among the few Congressmen who stood as a pillar of the party during its most critical juncture in post emergency period. Your service, dedication and sacrifice in reviving the party after Emergency will be ever remembered," he said.

The APCC president pointed out that it was RSS cadre Nathuram Godse had killed Mahatma Gandhi due to his ideological conflict on secularism. "Somebody might raise the issue that Jawaharlal Nehru had once invited the RSS to participate in the Republic Day Parade, but that was under very special circumstances prevailing during that time."