I stand by every single word, says Rahul on RSS role in

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Press Trust of India New Delhi
Last Updated : Aug 25 2016 | 4:43 PM IST
Dismissing suggestions that he had made a U-turn on RSS role in killing Mahatma Gandhi, Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi today insisted that he stood by "every single word" said by him.
"I will never stop fighting the hateful & divisive agenda of the RSS. I stand by every single word I said," he tweeted.
His tweet came after media reports said that he took a U-turn yesterday when he told the Supreme Court that he did not ever blame the RSS for the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi but had only said that a "few individuals in the organisation" were responsible for it.
Before Rahul's tweet, Information and Broadcasting Minister M Venkaiah Naidu said in the morning that wisdom had prevailed upon the Congress vice president.
"Good, Rahul finally admitted before Supreme Court that RSS is not accused in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi.
"Wisdom has prevailed. It may be a U-turn but a good turn. RSS a patriotic organization. RSS - Ready for Self Service anywhere any time," Naidu tweeted.
Rahul yesterday chose to set the records straight by telling the top court that he had never blamed RSS as an institution for killing Mahatama Gandhi but persons associated with it were behind the assassination.
He buttressed his stand by citing paragraphs from his affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court, while challenging the summons issued to him as an accused for his alleged defamatory statement in a 2015 election rally in Maharashtra.
Senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal, appearing for Rahul Gandhi, cited the affidavit filed before the High Court saying he had only accused certain people of RSS and not the organisation as the killer of Mahatma Gandhi.
"I never made the statement that RSS killed Mahatma Gandhi but persons associated with the RSS killed him," the senior advocate had told the Court.
Earlier today, Congress leader Digvijay Singh had dismissed suggestions that Rahul has made a U-turn in the Supreme Court on the RSS and said the party vice president stands by his assertion that the person who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi was from the organisation.
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Congress spokesperson Manish Tewari said what has been stated by Rahul at the rally is exactly what was articulated in the court and even put on the affidavit before the Bombay High Court.
"So, there is no inherent contradiction at all. The difficulty is that the RSS and the BJP believe in fighting political battles in the court of law and therefore the legal battles will be dealt legally.
"When they believe in fighting political battles in the court of law, they believe in using defamation as a tool of interpretation. The BJP would be well advised to look at the advice which the Supreme Court yesterday gave to Jayalalithaa government that stop using instruments of coercion and intimidation in order to fight your political battles," he said.
Tewari added that as far as the political fight is concerned, it has been made explicitly clear as to where the Congress Vice President stands.
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First Published: Aug 25 2016 | 4:43 PM IST

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