Congress cites Gandhi, Patel’s criticism of RSS

The Congress on Thursday launched a sharp attack on the RSS on its 100th anniversary, invoking Mahatma Gandhi and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel to accuse the organisation of fostering communalism and creating an atmosphere that led to the assassination of the Father of the Nation.

Sharing excerpts from Pyarelal’s authoritative biography of Gandhi, Congress leader Jairam Ramesh wrote on X: “Pyarelal was one of Mahatma Gandhi’s closest aides. In one of his books, Pyarelal writes about a conversation between Gandhi and one of his colleagues, in which the Father of the Nation describes the RSS as a ‘communal body with a totalitarian outlook’. Five months later, then Home Minister Sardar Patel banned the RSS.”

The Congress leader further cited Patel’s words at a Congress session in Jaipur on December 16, 1948, when the then Deputy PM, Patel, spoke about the steps the government had taken against the RSS. Ramesh quoted Patel saying the organisation (RSS), which operated secretly, was supposed to safeguard the Hindu culture. The report quoted Patel emphasising India must be a secular State. He warned that any organisation which sought to supplant the National Flag by another would be sternly dealt with, added Ramesh.

Earlier on Wednesday, PM Narendra Modi had praised the RSS for “never displaying any bitterness despite several attacks” and for continuing to work on the principle of “nation first”.