Cong slams PM's dynastic politics jibe, says no one can occupy public office without RSS backing

Senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal on Wednesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "dynastic politics" attack on the Congress, saying the PM himself comes from the Sangh Parivar without whose blessings no one in the country can occupy any public position.

He said the prime minister should introspect and instead of talking about dynastic politics, should focus on issues confronting people.

"What is the PM talking about? No one in the BJP can occupy any public position without the support of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh). The Sangh Parivar is the biggest parivar in the world. Without their blessings no one can hold any public position in the country, be it the position of a PM, a minister, governor or chief ministers," Sibal told PTI.

Sibal's remarks came in response to Prime Minister Modi's attack on the grand old party in a blog published earlier Wednesday.

Modi urged people to think wisely before casting vote, saying that from the press to Parliament, from soldiers to free speech, from the Constitution to the courts, "institutional insult is the Congress way".

"India has seen that whenever dynastic politics has been powerful, institutions have taken a severe beating," he said.

Reacting to the remarks, Sibal asked the prime minister to look within and focus on addressing the issues concerning the country such as farm crisis, joblessness, shortage of drinking water, education, health and pollution challenges.

"Is the PM so busy in the campaign that he has forgotten all about the people of India. He's only worried about dynasty," the former HRD minister said.

Sibal added that there is no one in the BJP, barring a few, who have not come from the RSS background. The prime minister, governors, chief ministers and ministers all belong to the RSS.

He also alleged that about 2 crore jobs were lost since Modi came to power, citing a National Sample Survey Office (NSSO) data.

He said the national male workforce had shrunk from 30.4 crore in 2011-12 to 28.6 crore in 2017-18.