The Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) has filed two separate police complaints against Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge over his remark likening the organisation to a “venomous snake”. The complaints were lodged at police stations in Assam’s Dispur and Silchar.
According to reports, the RSS alleged that Kharge’s statement amounts to a “corrupt electoral practice” under the Representation of the People Act, 1951. The complaints further claimed that his remarks could “criminally intimidate the public” and promote enmity between supporters of different political and social groups.
The complainants claimed that describing the ideology of the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) as “poisonous,” and allegedly calling for their elimination, could be interpreted as inciting harm against their members and supporters.
On Monday, April 6, Mallikarjun Kharge reportedly said that both the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) were “venomous snakes,” during an election rally held at Nilambazar under the Karimganj South Assembly Constituency in Sribhumi district of Assam.
Citing the Quran, the Congress president reportedly said that if a venomous snake is passing in front of you, even if you are offering prayer, you should pause the prayer and kill the snake. “The RSS and the BJP are venomous snakes,” Kharge allegedly said.
The comments triggered strong reactions from the BJP. Former Minister and RSS member Ravi Shankar Prasad demanded an apology and questioned whether Congress leaders Rahul Gandhi, Sonia Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi endorsed Kharge’s statement.
Prasad defended the RSS and BJP as “patriotic organisations” and criticised the Congress for its long-standing opposition to the RSS.
“Rahul Gandhi, your father, your mother, your grandmother, and your great grandfather have all been criticising the RSS since they came to power. Yet, see where the RSS has reached today,” he said.
He said Kharge’s remarks crossed “all limits of propriety”.
“Such words are not used even by the Left parties that are strongly anti-RSS. Even Maoists do not use such language. I don’t know what kind of ‘great personality’ Sonia Gandhi and Rahul Gandhi have made the national president,” Prasad said.