Digvijaya claims he was told not to criticise RSS, backs Rahul's stand

Don't want to miss the best from Business Standard?

Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Sunday said he was asked not to speak against the RSS while campaigning in Gujarat for fear of "angering Hindus" and hailed Rahul Gandhi's tough talk in that state a day earlier on those in the party helping the ruling BJP.

Addressing Congress workers in Ahmedabad on Saturday, Gandhi had said the party's first job was to separate two groups of Congress workers and leaders ones who carry the party ideology in their hearts and stand with the public and the others who were cut off from the public, "half of whom are with the BJP".  He had underlined the need to filter out such leaders and workers and had warned of strict action, even removals. In a post on social media platform X on Sunday, Singh congratulated Gandhi for his statement and said, "I remember when I went to Gujarat to campaign as the Chief Minister of MP, I was instructed not to speak against the RSS. Hindus will get angry."  Asserting that the RSS-led Sangh Parivar does not represent Hindus, the Rajya Sabha MP, who was CM of Madhya Pradesh from 1993 to 2003, said it only misleads and exploits the community in the name of religion.  "The Hindu religious guru Shankaracharya ji has a tradition established over thousands of years and it is still in practice. Which Shankaracharya among them is a supporter of @BJP4India, @RSSorg today? BJP is a group of exploitative elements whose sole aim is to loot people in the name of religion and gain power," he said in a social media message.