Cong dismisses RSS claim against Rahul as 'patent lie'

Congress today dismissed as a "patent lie" a report in the RSS mouthpiece which claimed that party vice-president Rahul Gandhi drew daily parliamentary allowance despite being absent from the House during his 56- day sabbatical earlier this year.
"Congress Vice-President Rahul Gandhi did not draw any daily allowance during the period when he did not attend the Parliament. To impute otherwise, as is being sought to be done by RSS in a diabolical fashion, is a patent lie.
"If RSS is still beholden to parading its lies, it would be well advised to first question its Pracharak Prime Minister, its Ministers and BJP/NDA MPs about the reasons for not foregoing pay and allowances for the period during which they did not attend Lok Sabha/Rajya Sabha sessions...," party chief spokesman Randeep Surjewala said in a statement.

In the latest edition of RSS organ 'Organiser', a report claimed to have accessed official documents and alleged that Gandhi had availed his full salary and allowances despite being absent from Parliament during the Budget Session. The Congress vice-president went on a sabbatical for a period of nearly two months earlier this year.
Launching a scathing attack on the RSS, Surjewala said, "Spreading misleading lies, mischievous canards and divisive venom have become the patented hallmark of RSS, the ideological guide of Pracharak Prime Minister Narendra Modi."
He said that this "vicious tirade of RSS is unleashed on a regular basis against individuals and organisations who stand to challenge their fascist thought process", and lamented that under BJP government, India's polity is "bloodied on a daily basis".

The "latest bundle of lies" has been dished out in RSS mouthpiece 'Organiser', he said.
The Congress leader said salary and allowances of MPs are governed by the Salary, Allowances and Pension of Members of Parliament Act, 1954.
Section 3 provides for payment of a salary of Rs 50,000 per month to all Lok Sabha MPs during their entire term of office of five years. In addition, an MP is entitled to an allowance of Rs 2,000 per day on which he/she is present and signs the register maintained by Parliament's Secretariat when Parliament is in session.