The Congress appeared to be going after the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with a vengeance. The party alleged on Thursday that the RSS has engaged ‘one of Pakistan’s official lobbying arms’ to espouse its interests in the US and claimed that this is not the first time that the organisation betrayed "national interest."
Congress General Secretary in-charge of communications Jairam Ramesh said days earlier that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat acknowledged that the Sangh isn’t a registered organisation and that it does not pay taxes.
"Now, we learn that the RSS has spent a significant amount of money to engage one of Pakistan’s official lobbying arms - the American law firm Squire Patton Boggs (SPB) - to espouse its interests in the US," Ramesh said in a tweet.
Days earlier, during an internal interaction, the Sarsanghchalak had reportedly asked, "RSS was established in 1925, so do you expect us to have registered with the British government?"
“We are categorised as a body of individuals, and we are a recognised organisation. The income tax department asked us to pay income tax, and there was litigation. The court said, this is a body of individuals and our ‘guru dakshina’ was exempted from the income tax,” The New Indian Express quoted him as saying.
Ramesh also shared a screenshot on X showing US Senate lobbying disclosures, which showed that the Squire Patton Boggs had registered as a lobbyist for the RSS.
The Congress claimed that the RSS opposed M.K. Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar.
"This is hardly the first time that the RSS—with its long tradition of betraying the freedom movement, opposing Mahatma Gandhi and Dr. Ambedkar, and attacking the Constitution and the national flag of India—has betrayed national interest. It is a pseudo-nationalist outfit," Ramesh said in the tweet.
Earlier, following the remarks by the Sarsanghchalak, Congress leader Digvijaya Singh demanded an apology from him, for ‘insulting’ the followers of the Sanatan Dharma by comparing the non-registration of the Sangh to the non-registration of Hinduism. "By comparing the RSS's non-registration to (that of) Hinduism, you have insulted millions of Sanatan Dharma followers. I strongly condemn this statement," the Congress leader said.
If the RSS is exempt from paying income tax, Bhagwat should produce the order granting the exemption, he demanded.
The RSS lacks faith in the country's constitutional system and the Constitution, hence Bhagwat was concocting excuses for the Sangh not being registered, Singh claimed.
A win for RSS in Karnataka
Meanwhile, the Karnataka High Court on Thursday disposed of a petition filed by the convenor of RSS in Kalaburagi, seeking permission to hold a route march in Chittapur town. The court granted permission for the march on November 16 with 300 participants and a band.
The issue began when authorities in Chittapur, the home constituency of Minister Priyank Kharge, denied permission for the RSS route march on October 19, citing the possibility of disruption of peace and law and order.
The authorities had then cited that the Bhim Army and other organisations has also informed, through a letter, that they too will conduct a route march on the same route on the same day. The authorities were further asked to consider the application and submit the report to the court.
—With PTI inputs
