Cong calls Modi’s Bhagwat tribute ‘desperate bid to please RSS’

The Congress on Thursday accused Prime Minister Narendra Modi of seeking to ingratiate himself with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), describing his glowing tribute to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on his 75th birthday as a “desperate bid” to win favour with the organisation’s leadership.

Congress general secretary Jairam Ramesh took to X to attack the Prime Minister, saying, “The Prime Minister, in his desperate bid to curry favour with the RSS leadership, has written an over-the-top tribute to Mohan Bhagwat on his 75th birthday today.”

Ramesh criticised Modi for recalling September 11 in global history, Swami Vivekananda’s famous address in Chicago in 1893 and the Al Qaeda terrorist attacks in the US in 2001, but omitting Mahatma Gandhi’s first call for satyagraha in Johannesburg on September 11, 1906. “That was when the world first heard of this revolutionary idea. But not surprisingly, the PM has not mentioned it,” Ramesh said.

“Of course it is too much to expect the PM to remember the origin of satyagraha since the very word satya is alien to him,” he added.

In another swipe, Ramesh said, “The PM, who himself claimed to be non-biological, makes his pravachans appear as if they are God-se.”

The opposition’s remarks came as several newspapers carried the Prime Minister’s tribute to Bhagwat, where Modi praised the RSS chief for his “intellectual depth and empathetic leadership,” and described his tenure since 2009 as the “most transformative period” in the organisation’s century-long journey.

In that article, Modi hailed Bhagwat as a living embodiment of the idea of Vasudhaiva Kutumbakam, saying he had devoted his life to societal transformation and strengthening the spirit of harmony and fraternity.