MP polls: BJP attacks Cong's 'RSS shakha ban' manifesto pledge

The Congress's manifesto for the Madhya Pradesh Assembly polls, pledging a ban on holding RSS shakhas on government premises and stopping government staffers from attending those has raised the heckles of the ruling BJP in the poll-bound state.

Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) spokesperson Sambit Patra, vice-president Prabhat Jha and Madhya Pradesh unit chief Rakesh Singh hit out at the Congress Sunday, accusing it of being opposed to Lord Ram.

The Congress manifesto also talks about withdrawing a relaxation given to state government staffers to attend shakhas (class) conducted by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).

"The Congress believes in mandir nahin banane denge, shakha nahin lagne denge (won't allow the temple, won't allow shakhas). These are the very people who had earlier said that Lord Ram did not exist, that he was a mythical character. That's why they were opposed to the construction of the Ram temple," Patra told reporters in a hurriedly-convened press meet here.

"Kapil Sibal (senior Congress leader and lawyer) had objected to the hearing of the Ram temple issue in the Supreme Court before 2019. The Congress's ideology appears to be mandir nahin banane denge, shakha nahin lagne denge.

"This is a consistent effort by (Congress chief) Rahul Gandhi and the Congress party to demean the efforts of the RSS," he claimed.

Hitting out at former Madhya Pradesh chief minister Digvijay Singh, Patra said, "Digvijay Singh has also said that the RSS should be banned. He had referred to terrorist Osama bin Laden as Osamaji and also called Zakir Naik, on the run now, an apostle of peace."
Meanwhile, Congress spokesperson Priyanka Chaturvedi said, "The RSS, while it calls itself a cultural organisation, is busy pushing and aggressively promoting a political ideology and a political party."