Coming down heavily on Congress leaders for their comments on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, Minister for Rural Development and Panchayat Raj K.S. Eshwarappa has appealed them to study about the Sangha, before criticising it.
At a press conference in Shivamogga on Tuesday, Mr. Eswharappa said he had gone through the comments made by KPCC president D.K. Shivakumar, former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah and Congress leader B.K. Hariprasad on the RSS on the occasion of Jawaharlal Nehru’s birth anniversary. “The party has been losing its strength because of the way they did politics all these years. If they criticize the RSS, they would bite the dust. Let them read about RSS first. There are many books about the organisation and I am happy to send them the copies”, he said.
The children of many Congress leaders, Mr. Eshwarappa said, had joined the RSS in the recent years. In the past, Mahatma Gandhi had also participated in an RSS camp. Recently Pranab Mukherjee, who was a Congressman throughout his career and served as President of the country, attended an RSS programme. “It is an organisation working for the country and Hindutva. It does not treat people based on caste. People from all castes are in the organisation”, he said.
Arrest
Commenting on the arrest of former Bengaluru Mayor R. Sampath Raj in connection with the violence at D.J. Halli and K.G. Halli, Mr. Eshwarappa said the State government would take stern action against all those involved in the crime. “The incident happened because of the Congress leaders’ hunger for power. Leaders of the Congress are ready to set ablaze anybody’s house for power and later would protect those behind such criminal acts. When their own legislator’s house was burnt, the Congress did not demand the arrest of anti-nationals involved in the crime”, he said.
Poll victory
Mr. Eshwarappa said the BJP won Sira seat not only because of B.Y. Vijayendra, party’s State vice-president, but also because of the collective efforts of all leaders.
Answering a question, he said a section of the media had hyped Mr. Vijayendra’s contributions in the by-election. “The party had assigned senior leaders as in-charge of Assembly constituencies which went to the polls. Along with Mr. Vijayendra, Govind Karjol and others worked in the constituency. I don’t deny Mr. Vijayendra’s role. Like him, others also campaigned hard”, he said.
