NEW DELHI: Sharpening his attack on BJP’s ideological mentor Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Congress leader Rahul Gandhi called it a “fundamentalist and fascist” organisation. He said RSS captured all of India’s institutions such as the press, judiciary, Parliament and the Election Commission.
Gandhi made the allegations during an interactive session at the ‘Chatham House think-tank in London’ on Monday. “RSS is a secret society and it is built along the lines of the Muslim Brotherhood. When I joined politics in 2004, the democratic contest in India used to be between political parties. I’d never imagined at that time that the nature of the contest would change completely. The reason it has changed is that one organisation, called the RSS — fundamentalist, fascist organisation — has captured all of India’s institutions,” said the Wayanad MP.
After coming under attack from BJP over his statement that the US and Europe are oblivious to eroding democracy, he chose to adopt a nuanced position during the interaction. “This is an internal problem and the solution should come from inside. However, the scale of Indian democracy means that Indian democracy is a public good. We will deal with our problem. If Indian democracy collapses, it will impact way farther than our borders. You must be aware that the biggest idea of the democratic model is under attack and it will play out at the global level.”
On the party’s electoral setbacks in the past few years, he said that a set of changes taking place in India had caught the Congress off guard. To say that the BJP is in power and the Congress gone is a ridiculous idea, he said. “We are not allowed to debate in Parliament on some of the biggest decisions such as the demonetisation. We were not allowed to have a conversation in Parliament on the Farmers Bill, GST, or the Chinese incursion on the borders,” he said.
On a question on India’s China policy, Gandhi drew similarities between Chinese troops on the Ladakh and Arunachal Pradesh borders and Ukraine. “If you look at what happened in Ukraine, Russia has told Ukraine that we do not accept its relationship with Europe and America and if you do not change this relationship, we will challenge your territorial integrity.”