BENGALURU: Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge on Wednesday said that the three-day RSS event to be held in Belagavi from July 10 is a private event and hence, there is no need to obtain permission from the government. If the organisation wants to hold a procession, then it must obtain permission, he said.
Belagavi will host the annual Akhil Bharatiya Prant Pracharak Baithak from July 10 to 12. RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat and a host of other senior leaders of the organisation will attend the event.
“What is happening in Belagavi is a private programme of the RSS. If they want to get on to the streets and hold a procession or organise a large gathering, then they must obtain government permission. The police will give permission after checking the local law and order situation,” Priyank told reporters in Bengaluru.
Responding to BJP MLC CT Ravi’s allegation that he had sent the police to the residence of Hindu activist Tejas Gowda to intimidate him for filing a defamation case, Priyank challenged the former to file a complaint against him. Tejas Gowda had filed a defamation suit against Priyank over his recent statements on the RSS, following which a Bengaluru court issued summons to the latter.
“Let CT Ravi first give his voice sample and then talk about others”, Priyank chided, referring to the incident of Ravi allegedly making defamatory remarks against former minister Laxmi Hebbalkar during the winter session of the legislature in Belagavi.
On the NDA approaching the Election Commission of India (ECI) alleging large-scale irregularities in the ongoing Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of the electoral rolls in Karnataka, Priyank said, “It is the BJP’s standard operating procedure. First, they will cry, they will make noise about it, they will claim to be victims, and then central agencies will come... This means that they are (agencies) nothing but puppets of the Centre.”
