Congress' campaign is political swindle based on lies: RSS
New Delhi, May 7:A day after Rahul Gandhi posted a video highlighting the BJP and RSS leaders' "anti-Dalit" stance, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh on Monday hit back terming the Congress chief and his party's campaign a "political swindle based on lies".
"The Congress party and its President continue to try and misguide the society with their lies and deceit.
"The official Facebook page of Rahul Gandhi has shared a blatant lie in the name of Sarsanghchalak Mohanji Bhagwat and me. In that he has claimed that the RSS intends to end the reservations granted to the SC/ST communities by the Indian constitution," RSS joint general secretary Manmohan Vaidya said in a statement.
Vaidya said "these allegations are a white lie and absolutely baseless".
Gandhi on Sunday targeted the Bharatiya Janata Party and RSS for posing "fascist ideology", and claimed that they wanted Dalits and Adivasis to exist on the bottom rung of the society.
Gandhi shared a two-minute-long video on Twitter showing atrocities against Dalits, including the 2016 Una incident.
He also questioned the "silence" of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on the rising incidents of atrocities against Dalits in the country.
"Central to the RSS/BJP fascist ideology is that Dalits and Adivasis must continue to exist at the bottom rung of society. In this disturbing video, the dangers of this mindset and how it's openly propagated by senior RSS/BJP leaders is revealed," Gandhi tweeted with the hashtag #AnswerMaadiModi or "Modi must answer" in Kannada.
The video also claimed that "every 12 minutes, Dalits face atrocity and everyday six Dalit women are raped".
The RSS member later challenged Gandhi, saying "if he has some honesty", he must furnish proofs.
Vaidya said the constitutional provisions of reservations for the Scheduled Castes and Scheduled Tribes are because of the social inequalities that unfortunately exist in the Hindu society.
"It has been the official stand of RSS that these reservations should continue."
He said the Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha has reiterated this from time to time through its resolutions.
The RSS is committed and engaged in creating an egalitarian and harmonious society in the country that is free from social inequalities, Vaidya said.
"Rahul Gandhi and Congress Party's campaign is a political swindle based on lies and falsehood. I strongly condemn this heinous and unwelcome conduct," Vaidya added.
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HN Valley Project water purification: Chikkaballapur bandh receives moderate response
Chikkaballapur: The bandh called for Sunday by organizations demanding the authorities to undertake third round of purification of water under the HN Valley Project received moderate response from the locals.
Members of the Permanent Irrigation Struggle Committee, pro-Kannada organizations and various farmers’ organizations complained that the state government has taken no decision on the issue related to the project related to the supply of water from the Hebbal-Nagawara lakes of Bengaluru to the lakes in Chikkaballapur.
Shop owners stayed their business keeping their stores closed for the day in support of the bandh. Traffic movement went on as normal. Police security was beefed up for the day to prevent any untoward incident amid the protest.
The members of Jeevajala Jagruti Vedike led a procession in town and shouted slogans demanding purification of water under the project.
BJP leader Sandeep Reddy, who spoke on the occasion, criticized the state government for taking no initiative to provide pure water and demanded the start of purification of water immediately.
