How can we ban RSS when it is not registered? Priyank Kharge takes dig at BJP
Kalaburagi: Minister Priyank Kharge said that while he had written a letter regarding banning RSS activities, many people questioned how an organisation like the RSS could be banned when it is not even registered.
Speaking to reporters at the Iwan-e-Shahi guest house, he said, “Everyone keeps saying ‘let’s see how you will ban RSS’. But tell me, how can you ban an organisation that has no registration? RSS members themselves say they are not involved in politics. Yet, after the government’s order, BJP leaders seem more worried than RSS itself. What is the connection between BJP and RSS?” he asked.
Kharge said that someone had recently threatened him and used abusive language against his family, but no BJP leader condemned the incident. “Police registered a suo motu case and arrested the person who threatened me. He told the police that he has RSS in every vein of his body. Now, he is from a poor background but those who provoked him should also face action,” he said.
The minister said that RSS had announced its intention to hold a route march on a particular day, and several other organisations also applied to hold processions on the same day at the same location. “RSS has made it a matter of prestige. The issue is now before the High Court. Whatever the court decides, everyone will have to follow it,” he stated.
Kharge also said that questions about RSS’s registration status will be raised at an appropriate time in court. “At present, only the issue of the route march is being heard. Once the matter of permission is decided, the question of registration will also be taken up legally,” he said.
Kharge pointed out that there is already a High Court order restricting public gatherings without permission. “In Bengaluru, RSS mentioned that their march was only for information purposes, not an event needing permission. But the public objected. Any gathering of thousands of people requires prior permission from the police. If RSS can do it by just ‘informing’, others will want to do the same,” he said.
He further alleged that in Sedam, RSS members violated the law by conducting a procession, which would be brought to the court’s notice. “Why did BJP leaders attend the peace meeting instead of RSS representatives? Were they there to maintain peace or to disrupt it?” Kharge questioned.
Responding to a query about RSS members carrying sticks during processions, the minister said, “There is law everywhere, including in Chittapur. Action was taken according to the law when it came to protecting the future of local youth. If the High Court later permits processions with sticks, we have no objection,” he said.
MLC Tippannappa Kamaknoor, former minister Revanayak Belamagi, and other leaders were present during the interaction.
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Fascism will not be allowed to enter through the back door of vote rigging: CM Siddaramaiah
New Delhi: Chief Minister Siddaramaiah on Sunday asserted that fascism would not be allowed to enter India “through the back door of vote rigging” and called upon citizens to collectively defend the country’s democratic foundations.
Speaking after participating in an anti–vote rigging protest organised in New Delhi, Siddaramaiah said the gathering was not merely a political demonstration but a stand to protect Indian democracy. “We have come to the heart of our republic not as Congress workers or voters, but as protectors of Indian democracy,” he said.
Emphasising the importance of the right to vote, Siddaramaiah said it was the most sacred right guaranteed by the Constitution and the very foundation of democracy.
“Through voting, a farmer shapes the future of his children, a worker safeguards his dignity, a youth realises dreams, and a nation expresses its collective will,” he said.
He accused the BJP-led Union government of attempting to undermine this right through what he termed systematic vote rigging, including the alleged misuse of the special revision of electoral rolls. “This power is being stolen repeatedly,” he alleged.
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Warning against authoritarian tendencies, Siddaramaiah said history had shown that dictatorship does not begin with violence but with the misuse of institutions and manipulation of democratic systems.
“Across the world, authoritarian regimes pretend to protect democracy while quietly subverting it. This is what the BJP is doing today,” he charged.
He alleged that the ruling party was controlling institutions, intimidating electoral machinery, distorting voter lists, suppressing voter turnout in opposition strongholds, and misusing money and power. “This is not mere maladministration. Vote rigging is an attack on the very idea of India,” he said.
Siddaramaiah further claimed that governments formed through “stolen votes” could not be considered democratic.
“Such regimes survive through fear, fraud and distortion of the people’s mandate,” he said, adding that vote rigging posed the biggest threat to the republic since Independence.
Praising Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha Rahul Gandhi, Siddaramaiah said he had shown exceptional courage in exposing alleged irregularities in voter lists, booth-level manipulation and “systematic, organised vote rigging” across several states, including Karnataka, Haryana and Bihar.
Referring to Karnataka, Siddaramaiah cited Mahadevpura and Aland constituencies as examples highlighted by Gandhi. In Mahadevpura, he said, thousands of allegedly fake and fraudulent voter entries and discrepancies in electoral rolls pointed to a narrow BJP victory. In Aland, he said, attempts were made to remove the names of legitimate voters ahead of the 2023 Assembly elections.
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He noted that a Special Investigation Team (SIT) had recently filed a chargesheet accusing seven persons, including a former BJP MLA and his son, of attempting to delete the names of around 6,000 voters in Aland.
“This is a significant legal step in the fight against vote rigging,” he said.
Siddaramaiah concluded by stating that the fight against vote rigging was rooted in constitutional morality, Ambedkarite thought and the core principle of democracy. “Sovereignty belongs to the people, not to any party, regime or those who seek to steal elections,” he said.
