BENGALURU: Reigniting a 77-year-old controversy over national flag when the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) is celebrating its centenary, RDPR and IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge posted on X, “100 years of disrespecting our National Flag. 100 years of betraying the Independence movement. 100 years of opposing the Constitution. 100 years of anti-nationalism.”
He also shared a February 24, 1948 letter from the Union Home Ministry to the then chief secretary of Punjab, banning RSS activities following Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
On October 4, Kharge had sought a ban on RSS activities on government properties. Soon after, Kharge claimed that his phone was flooded with abusive calls targeting his family. One caller allegedly identified himself as an RSS supporter and warned, “We’ll be here for another 100 years.” The police later arrested Dinesh Naroni, a salesman from Maharashtra, for the threats.
When RSS planned a march through his constituency of Chittapur in Kalaburagi district, local authorities denied permission. BJP leaders dismissed the episode as “a publicity stunt,” but Kharge hit back, declaring: “No matter how hard the BJP ecosystem tries, they cannot whitewash RSS’s anti-Constitution history. It’s time Swayamsevaks learn the truth.”
Kharge’s latest salvo comes as the RSS marks its centenary. He said, “My fight is against the ideology that took Gandhi’s life.”
Even as the minister’s attack continues, RSS Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat was in Bengaluru over the past couple of days participating in RSS events.