RSS row part of Priyank Kharge’s 2028 CM strategy: BJP’s Ashoka

Bengaluru, Jun 16 (PTI) Senior BJP leader R Ashoka on Tuesday hit out at Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge over the RSS registration issue, claiming that it was his strategy to counter Chief Minister D K Shivakumar, who is "daydreaming" that he alone will be the Congress' CM candidate in the 2028 assembly elections.

He also hit out at the ruling party for raising questions regarding the Sangh's registration, its legal status and sources of funding.

Terming Kharge's move as a "strategy" to quietly counter Shivakumar, who is "daydreaming" that he alone will be the CM candidate in the 2028 Assembly elections, Ashoka said, "In an attempt to curry favour by appeasing fake Gandhi high command in Delhi and somehow become the next chief ministerial candidate, Priyank Kharge has chosen to make the RSS a bogeyman." He also called Kharge the most “utter flop” minister in Karnataka’s history.

"What moral authority does the Indian National Congress have to speak about the RSS when it has formed political alliances purely for the sake of power with an extremely divisive and anti-national organisation like the Muslim League, which was responsible for the partition of the country, and is governing in two states through such alliances?" Ashoka questioned in a post on 'X'.

He alleged that when anti-national elements openly shouted “Pakistan Zindabad” slogans in front of the Vidhana Soudha, the sacred temple of democracy, Priyank Kharge chose to sit with his eyes and ears closed, took no action against them, and arrogantly defended them. "Such is the integrity of Priyank Kharge." "It is not only laughable but the height of shame that protectors of such anti-national thinking are questioning the legality and patriotism of the RSS, a nationalist organisation that has been serving Mother India selflessly and without expectations for the past hundred years," he added.

Kharge had formally sought an explanation from RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat on the organisation's legal status and "sources of donations, contributions and income".

In a letter to Bhagwat, the minister has asked the RSS to depute "authorised office-bearers" to explain the legal grounds on which it functions.

"His (Kharge) ongoing efforts to create ideological controversies in society and thereby advance his own political interests are no secret to the aware and intelligent people of Karnataka," he added.

According to Ashoka, Priyank Kharge has completely "failed" in every responsibility entrusted to him so far, including the IT-BT portfolio, Rural Development, and his role as the minister in charge of Kalaburagi district, earning him the reputation of being the most “utter flop” minister in Karnataka’s history.

"Having achieved nothing in terms of development, he is now desperately trying to attract the attention of the high command by using the Home Department. To that end, he spends all 24 hours of the day chanting the name of the RSS and making every possible effort to remain in the news and on social media." "It is certain that the enlightened and discerning people of Karnataka will teach a fitting lesson to such worn-out political strategies and anti-national attitudes." State BJP President B Y Vijayendra too hit out at Kharge and said transparency sounds rich coming from someone who belongs to a party like Congress, whose political ecosystem still owes the nation clear answers on the National Herald controversy.

"This selective moral outrage, everyone knows, is nothing but your desperate attempt to please your High Command and justify your Ministership," he said.

Noting that the RSS does not need a certificate of legitimacy from the Congress party, the BJP chief said, "Mohan Bhagwat ji has already given a fitting reply. But the real answer will come from the people themselves and that time is not far away." "Priyank Kharge, attacking the RSS may temporarily satisfy your High Command, but it will not hide the failures of your government, nor will it erase the Congress party’s long record of corruption, appeasement and anti-national politics," he added. PTI