RSS gaining hold over apex court, poll body: Rahul
NEW DELHI: Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Saturday alleged that institutions such as the Supreme Court and the Election Commission were being “systematically captured” by the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and said India cannot be run on one single idea.
There is a feeling among the people that one ideology is being imposed upon them, Gandhi said at an interaction with academicians at the Siri Fort. “(RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat in his earlier speeches has said, ‘We are going to organise the nation’. Who is he to organise the nation? The nation will organise itself. In next couple of months, their fantasy will be smashed,” he said.
During the interaction , Gandhi said there are two visions of India and the Congress’s vision is that India constitutes of people who live in it. The only way to understand India is talk to its people, he said.
Gandhi alleged that the RSS’s vision of India is that of a “golden bird” which it views as a product.
The product has to be monetised and utilised, and they will decide who will do this, the Congress chief said.
“What we are fighting is the attempted capture of this ‘golden bird’ by the RSS. They have understood very clearly that electoral battle for them, they can win it once, but they can’t repeatedly win it.
“They have understood that. So, now what they are doing is that they are saying elections will come and elections will go, let us capture all of India’s institutions and let us capture the golden bird with a bypass surgery,” he said.
The educational institutions, the Supreme Court and the Election Commission of India, all these are “systematically being captured”, Gandhi alleged.
Citing an example, he alleged, “When Mr (Narendra) Modi came to power, a person from Gujarat was chosen to head the SPG. In a short time, he left the position. He told me that he refused a list of SPG officers handpicked by the RSS, and that is why he was sent home.”
Gandhi claimed that the reason behind this attack on institutions was that there were monetary benefits for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS).
The Congress chief also said that it was impossible for him to lead India, without having a “conversation with India”. “The idea is, I should be a reflection of what is in your heart,” he said.
Gandhi told the professors that he knows that they were feeling the pressure and that an ideology was being imposed on them.
Attacking the central government over its education policy, Gandhi said government institutions should be given precedence over private institutions and the government should put money to strengthen them.