Unlike Modi, Rajiv Gandhi very tall leader: Antony
Thiruvananthapuram, May 21: Rajiv Gandhi was a very tall leader unlike Prime Minister Narendra Modi and the Congress agenda is to see that Modi is ousted from power since he has butchered the sanctity of democracy, senior Congress leader A.K. Antony said on Monday.
"Rajiv Gandhi as Prime Minister sacrificed Congress governments in then troubled Punjab, Assam, and Mizoram to ensure that peace returned to these states, while the Bharatiya Janata Party governments (in the states) are used by Modi to unsettle peace," the former Defence Minister said at a party meeting here held to commemorate the death anniversary of Rajiv Gandhi.
Rajiv Gandhi was assassinated on May 21, 1991, by a woman operative of the now-vanquished Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam at a rally in Tamil Nadu's Sriperumbudur town in a bomb blast.
"Modi is one who gives the least importance to values, while Rajiv Gandhi was one who stood for these. Had the former Prime Minister been alive, by now India would have reached among the top nations of the world. It was during his times that huge strides was made in the information technology and telecommunication sectors," he added.
"The process to oust Modi from power has already started. We will accomplish the task by joining hands with secular parties. That's what we saw in Karnataka where the Congress and Janata Dal-Secular teamed up (to keep the BJP out of power)," Antony said.
Antony also accused Modi of misusing the Karnataka Governor's office to ensure that even when the Congress-JD-S combine had more seats in the new Assembly than the BJP, it was not invited to form the government.
"Six Union Ministers led by Piyush Goyal stayed put in Bengaluru to see that a minority BJP government got a majority through horse trading," the senior Congress leader said.
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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.
