The opposition on Thursday attacked Prime Minister Narendra Modi for praising the Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh (RSS) in his Independence Day address.
Terming the speech “stale, hypocritical, insipid, and troubling”, Congress general secretary, communications, Jairam Ramesh said the PM mentioned the RSS since he was “decisively weakened” after the 2024 Lok Sabha results and was “reliant on (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat’s good offices for the extension of his tenure”.
“The most troubling element of the PM’s speech today was his name-checking of the RSS from the ramparts of the Red Fort — a blatant breach of the spirit of a constitutional, secular republic. It is nothing but a desperate attempt to appease the organisation in the run-up to his (PM’s) 75th birthday next month,” Ramesh posted on X.
“This politicisation of Independence Day for personal and organisational gain is deeply corrosive to our democratic ethos,” he said, adding, “The PM was tired today. Soon he will be retired.”
Congress’s media and publicity department head Pawan Khera said the PM’s speech was “not of uniting but breaking India”. “By naming the Sangh from the Red Fort, the PM has insulted Mahatma Gandhi, Sardar Patel, Babasaheb Ambedkar, the Constitution of India and the Indian tricolour,” Khera said on X.
Modi on Friday hailed 100 years of RSS as a “very proud and glorious” journey of the “world’s biggest NGO” and lauded all its volunteers for their dedicated service to the nation.
The BJP, on its part, said the PM had spoken about the Sangh to commemorate its 100th year. “In 1963, Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru invited the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh to join the Republic Day parade and called it ‘an organisation of patriots…’ As the RSS marks 100 years, it is fitting that Prime Minister Narendra Modi mentions it from the Red Fort,” said BJP IT and media cell chief Amit Malviya.
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The BJP also questioned the absence of Leader of Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi at the Independence Day celebrations at Red Fort.
Samajwadi Party leader Akhilesh Yadav took a veiled dig at the RSS after it was lauded by the PM, saying “it should congratulate the British on the completion of its 100 years”.
“The BJP itself had resolved to follow the path of secularism. The RSS ideology does not align with secularism… On this completion of 100 years, they should congratulate the British. Because we have heard and some historians have also written that some organisations were made by the British so that ‘Bharat’ could be divided on religious lines…,” he said.
CPI (M) general secretary M A Baby accused Modi of “dishonouring the memory of India’s martyrs and the spirit of our freedom movement” by lauding the RSS. “This is profoundly unacceptable and shameful,” he said in a post on X.
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“… it is deeply regrettable that Prime Minister Modi…chose to praise the RSS — an organisation with a dubious historical record,” Baby said.
AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi said “glorifying the RSS in an Independence Day speech is an insult” to the freedom struggle.
“They (RSS) never joined the fight for Independence and hated Gandhi more than they ever opposed the British… RSS rejects the values of inclusive nationalism that motivated our freedom fighters,” he said.
“The ideology of Hindutva believes in exclusion and is antithetical to the values of our Constitution. Modi could have gone to Nagpur to praise RSS as a Swayamsevak, why did he have to do it from the Red Fort as the Prime Minister,” he asked.
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RJD MP Manoj Kumar Jha accused PM Modi of having spoken from a perspective of “dog-whistling and politics”, having “distorted history” and “negated the foundation” on which the country was built.
“Dog-whistling, politics…it does not behove you even during elections; but when you…spread lies from the ramparts of the Red Fort, legitimise hatred and enmity…it is an opportunity for you, Pradhan Mantri ji, to introspect where we have reached from ‘A tryst with destiny…’” he said.
The Trinamool Congress accused the Prime Minister of using his I-Day address to target “infiltrators” as a “new enemy”. “After Andolanjeevis etc now ‘infiltrators’ are the new target. Again, new ‘missions’ announced while targeting past governments. When will Modi give an August 15 speech truthfully, addressing his own record of 11 years marked by over-promising and under-achieving,” TMC Rajya Sabha deputy leader Sagarika Ghose posted on X.
SIR concerns
The Congress reiterated its concerns over the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) in Bihar among other issues such as unemployment, “open misuse” of constitutional bodies and investigative agencies over the last decade under the BJP.
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Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge credited the party’s “visionary leaders” for having laid the foundation for a strong India and accused the BJP of being “ready to stoop to any level of immorality to stay in power”.
“Large-scale irregularities in elections are coming to light. Under the guise of SIR, opposition voters are being openly removed from the rolls,” he said.
