Cong targets RSS

The Congress has latched on to the killing of Dr Narendra Dabholkar and launched an all-round attack on RSS.

On Tuesday, Chief Minister Prithviraj Chavan had described the killing as a ''political murder'' and said that ''the ideology, which was responsible for Mahatma Gandhi's assassination, was also responsible for this dastardly act.'' Chavan, however, had refrained from naming any outfit.

On Wednesday, he told a TV channel, "It was a preplanned attack. A similar attack happened in 1948 (again alluding to Gandhi's assassination). We have requested the Centre to ban such religious organisations.''

When pressed, he added, ''It won't be right to divulge the names of these organisations at this stage."

There have been allegations that Hindu right-wing group Sanathan Sanstha, which often clashed with Dabholkar, could be involved in the murder. Another outfit on the wrong side of the rationalist was Hindu Jagran. The Congress party functionaries took a cue from Chavan and State Congress President Manikrao Thakre and lost no time in attacking the RSS, even as he remained muted on the role of Sanstan and Jagran. "Dabholkar's murder is a result of RSS ideology,'' he said, as the party unveiled 'Vision 2014', its agenda for the general elections. "Dabholkar was a true Gandhian. He was targeted by forces, which killed Mahatma Gandhi in 1948. Now these very communal forces will try to ignite riots and spread fear. Their agenda is divisive and they are trying to rule the country. If we really want to keep India united, we should defeat them in the Lok Sabha election,'' he added.