"RSS Was Against Independence, Women's Voter Rights": Mallikarjun Kharge

Prime Minister Narendra Modi's effusive praise of the RSS, the BJP's parent body, in his Independence Day speech drew strong criticism from Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, who, on Sunday, claimed that the outfit had been "opposed" to freedom from the British.

Kharge was delivering a speech at Sasaram in Bihar, where a 'Voters' Adhikar Yatra' was launched in the presence of Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha, besides other senior alliance partners such as RJD president Lalu Prasad.

"Modi claimed, from the ramparts of the Red Fort two days ago, that the RSS is the greatest NGO, has been working selflessly for the nation for nearly 100 years and deserves credit for Independence. Our freedom fighters must be turning in their graves," exclaimed the Congress president.

"These RSS people should tell us what role did they play in the struggle for Independence. They were opposed to Independence. They were also opposed to Mahatma Gandhi and his followers, who gave up their academic careers and went to jail, fighting for freedom," Kharge said.

"In those days, all that the RSS people did was to convince the British imperialists of their loyalty, begging for mercy to evade arrest. And Modi said what he said... I therefore say Modi is such a dangerous man. People must vote him out if they want to keep their right to vote safe," he said.

Modi has been winning elections by stealing votes and while in power, he has been stealing the jobs meant for the youth and the maximum support price that farmers should be getting. All that his government seems to be interested in is changing the syllabi of schools and colleges, Kharge alleged.

"They have also been harassing opposing parties through all possible means. Governors appointed by the Centre have become cronies of the Union government. Election Commission, too, has become their agent," he added.

Kharge also claimed that the RSS and its sympathisers were opposed to universal adult suffrage, particularly women getting the right to vote, and they had "warned Jawaharlal Nehru that empowered females will vote him out".

"But Nehru, with associates like BR Ambedkar, took a progressive stance. Women and deprived sections were given their due. People of Sasaram may recall that this is a Lok Sabha seat which Dalit icon Babu Jagjivan Ram represented several times on a Congress ticket," the AICC president said.

"After Jagjivan Ram, the mantle was passed on to his daughter Meira Kumar, who also became the first woman to be elected as the Lok Sabha Speaker. I would request the people of Bihar to keep these things in mind.

"The rights of voters here are under attack. The names of 65 lakh people have been deleted from the electoral rolls in the name of special intensive revision. Most of them are said to be Dalits, OBCs, poor migrant labourers, women and those belonging to the minority community," Kharge claimed. 

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