Rahul Gandhi's presser tutored: BJP
Bengaluru, May 10: "Tutored and failed" is how the BJP on Thursday described the press conference addressed here by Congress President Rahul Gandhi and accused him of not answering the issues concerning the state's people.
"A desperate last-minute press conference that gave us nothing new about how and what they (Congress) will do for the people of Karnataka. A failed press conference that did not give us any clue or any answer to the number of questions raised by the state's people on the Siddaramaiah government's utterly dismal performance," Union Minister Piyush Goyal told a press conference here.
"It almost looks like a tutored press conference because many media persons were not even allowed to ask questions. Whenever a question was put... an effort was made to paraphrase it. This was a press conference more focussed on China and Pakistan, without responding to the local issues about which the corrupt Siddaramaiah government has no answer to offer," the Minister added.
"The Congress, its President, and the failed and corrupt Siddaramaiah government has no answer other than deflecting questions," he added.
The Bharatiya Janata Party attack came soon after Rahul Gandhi addressed a press conference here on the last day of campaigning for the May 12 Assembly polls.
Rahul Gandhi claimed that the BJP had restricted itself to mounting "personal attacks" on him and his party's leaders during campaigning and lacked seriousness about what they wished to do for public welfare if they returned to power in the state.
Goyal accused the Congress chief of not giving specific responses to issues that affect the people of Karnataka.
"He did not speak about corruption of Chief Minister Siddaramaiah's government and his Ministers. He was not able to tell who is responsible for the highest numbers of farmer suicides in Karnataka. When he is talking of 'inamdar', he did not respond to where the Hublot watch came from and why it was given to the Chief Minister," he said.
The Minister, a BJP leader, said that Rahul Gandhi also did not talk of the communal divide the Congress is trying to create by seeking votes in the name of religion.
The Minister said that the Congress leader's response to a query reminded him of his other "epic interactions" that ranged from connecting MRIs across the country to solve health sector problems and even his remarks that the Dalits "need the escape velocity of Jupiter" to achieve success.
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Centre spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print media ads for RSS centenary, reveals RTI
New Delhi: The Union Ministry of Culture allegedly spent Rs 76.13 lakh on print advertisements marking the 100-year celebrations of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), according to a Right to Information (RTI) reply.
The information was sought by RTI activist Ajay Basudev Bose, who filed an application seeking details on expenditure incurred by the ministry for advertisements commemorating the RSS centenary.
Bose shared a picture of the reply from the ministry on his official ‘X’ handle.
“It is informed that an amount of Rs 76,13,129 has been spent on advertisement given in various print media by the Ministry of Culture on the occasion of the completion of 100 years of RSS,” the government’s reply stated.
RTI reply shows Min of Culture Govt of India spent a Whopping Rs 76L,13K,129 on Advertisement in Print Media on occasion of 100 yrs of #RSS
— AJAY Basudev Bose (@AjayBos93388306) April 16, 2026
When Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??@RSSorg… pic.twitter.com/dW4IUtdNCg
Bose questioned the expenditure in the post X, “when Everyone knows RSS is Not Registered & Does not Pay any Tax is it justified to spend Tax Payers Money on such Private event??”
Reacting to the development, Karnataka’s IT-BT and Panchayat Raj Minister Priyank Kharge also criticised the spending.
In a post on X, he asked why public money was being used for what he described as a “private ideological project.”
"Modi Sarkar spent Rs 76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS. Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to celebrate their centenary?," he added.
Why is public money being used to serve a private ideological project?
— Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) April 16, 2026
Modi Sarkar spent ₹76,13,129 of public money on newspaper advertisements to celebrate 100 years of the RSS.
Why is Government spending taxpayers money on an unregistered, non-tax-paying organisation to… pic.twitter.com/EoZ6Pim3IM
According to reports, the RSS describes itself as a volunteer-based organisation and has stated that it functions as a body of individuals rather than a registered entity.
Founded by Keshav Baliram Hedgewar in 1925, the organisation is marking its centenary year beginning from Vijaydashami in 2025, with the milestone observed on October 2.
