BENGALURU: The ongoing dispute between Home Minister Priyank Kharge and the BJP over the legal status of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) escalated further, with both sides exchanging social media posts.
Kharge, responding to Karnataka BJP’s official handle, argued that since RSS has no formal legal identity, seeking official records against the organisation itself is an error. “No registration means no registered legal entity,” he wrote, adding that when individuals linked to RSS face legal cases, those cases are registered against individuals, not the organisation.
He asked why properties like Bengaluru’s Keshava Krupa and Delhi’s Keshav Kunj, both associated with RSS, are not registered in the organisation’s name. He characterised this as “influence without accountability” and “power without accountability,” and renewed his call for RSS to register itself and disclose its accounts, assets, funding and liabilities.
Hitting back, BJP claimed that in response to Council Question 524, Kharge had signed off on official documentation stating there were zero cases and zero untoward incidents involving RSS in Karnataka, calling it a contradiction of his public statements.
Priyank Kharge said, “@BJP4Karnataka you are putting @RSSorg into an embarrassing situation by asking the right questions. If you ask about an organisation that has no formal legal existence, and naturally the answer is: “No.”
No registration means no registered legal entity and when the organisation itself has no such formal legal identity, demanding records against the organisation while ignoring that distinction is either ignorance or sheer stupidity. Aren’t you fools aware? RSS is not a registered organisation. It does not even issue formal membership cards. So when individuals associated with it are accused of offences, cases are registered against those individuals. Remember how you disowned Godse?’’