Congress president demands ban on RSS in India

Mallikarjun Kharge, president of India’s main opposition party, the Indian National Congress, has called for a ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), the ideological parent organisation of the ruling Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). He made the demand on Friday (31 October) at a press conference in Delhi, according to a report by NDTV.

According to Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, the ideology of the RSS is “like poison” and is creating division within society. He said, “My personal view is that the RSS should be banned.”

Kharge reminded reporters that India’s first Deputy Prime Minister, Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel, had himself prohibited government employees from taking part in RSS activities. However, the BJP government lifted that restriction in 2024.

The Congress leader urged the government to reinstate the ban, saying, “Sardar Patel had said that while in government service, one should not support the RSS. But the Modi government revoked that restriction on 9 July last year. We are demanding that it be enforced again.”

Kharge also claimed that Patel had written in a letter that after Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination, the RSS distributed sweets to celebrate his death. For that reason, Patel banned the RSS in 1948. The Congress president added that reports sent to Patel at the time stated that the ideologies of the RSS and the Hindu Mahasabha had created an environment that contributed to Gandhi’s assassination.

The BJP has sharply criticised Kharge’s comments. Party spokesperson Shehzad Poonawalla said that the Congress had ignored Sardar Patel’s contributions for decades and was now using his legacy as a political weapon against the RSS.

Attacking the Congress further, Shehzad said, “INC no longer stands for Indian National Congress — it stands for Indian Nazi Congress. Despite all their conspiracies, the courts lifted the ban on the RSS. They have ruled that the RSS is a non-political organisation and that government employees are allowed to participate in its activities. But the Congress is so intolerant that it stands beside the rioters of PFI, SDPI, and AIMIM, while spreading venom against the RSS, which works for the welfare of the nation.”