Cong vows to bar govt employees from RSS events

Congress has touched a raw nerve of ruling BJP here when the party vowed to bar government employees from attending Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh ( RSS) programmes, if it returned to power in Madhya Pradesh in the November 28 assembly elections.

The party in its poll manifesto released here on Saturday said the order passed by the Shivraj Singh Chouhan government in 2006 allowing its officers and employees to participate in the RSS ‘ shakhas’ or functions would be revoked if Congress came to power in the state in this month’s polls.

Besides, the party also announced to put a ban on holding RSS ‘ shakhas’ in government premises.

Justifying the promise made in Congress manifesto, former Union minister P. Chidambaram on Sunday said, “RSS is a political organization. It has a political agenda. If Congress party in MP has said it will bar government employees from attending RSS programmes, I see nothing wrong in that. Government servants, as long as they are in service, should not openly associate themselves with any political party”.

He was addressing a media conference in Indore in Madhya Pradesh. Taking strong exception to the declaration by Congress, state BJP president J K Singh dared the Opposition party to take any such move. “Congress had banned RSS thrice earlier. But, the party was forced to revoke the ban later,”, he said, adding, “Vinaash Kaale Vipreet Buddhi ( One thinks negatively when one faces one’s destruction)”, he observed.

BJP national spokesman Sambit Patra took a jibe at Congress saying, “Congress, it seems, has a single agenda today- manidr nahin ban ne denge, shakha nahin chalne denge ( We will not allow construction of temple, nor permit RSS to function).