Priyank Kharge on Thursday reiterated that his party is ready to ban Bajrang Dal (File photo/ANI)
BJP Karnataka unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel said if any attempt is made to ban the RSS or the Bajrang Dal, “the Congress government will not survive”.
Newly appointed minister in the Karnataka government, Priyank Kharge has stoked a fresh controversy by reiterating Congress’s pre-poll ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bajrang Dal. The Karnataka unit of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) has reacted strongly to the ban proposal and threatened that the Congress will be “consumed” if the party tries to act on it.
Senior BJP leader and former Karnataka minister R Ashoka has challenged the Siddaramaiah government in the state, saying “if the party bans even a single shakha of the RSS, it will be nowhere in the state”.
Talking to reporters here, Ashok said, ‘Your father was unable to ban the RSS. It was not done by your grandmother. Even your great grandfather could not do anything. What can you do now?”
Ashok said that at one time the Congress had a majority in the Parliament.
There were 15-20 state governments in the country. The present condition of Congress in the country is pathetic. If you have guts, ban RSS. Your government will not last long.. will not last even for three months.
The BJP leader insisted that lakhs of RSS shakhas were functioning, and challenged the Congress government to show it by “banning a single shakha”.
“Hindu sentiments are with the RSS and Bajrang Dal,” he said.
The former Karnataka minister further said that in the new Congress government in the state, “CM Siddaramaiah is silent but Deputy CM Shivakumar is violent”.
He said, “In every meeting, Shivakumar speaks before the CM and threatens the police department and Hindu organizations.”
Meanwhile, BJP Karnataka unit president Nalin Kumar Kateel said that if any attempt is made to ban the RSS or the Bajrang Dal, “the Congress government will not survive”.
“Priyank Kharge spoke of banning the RSS. PM Modi is an RSS Swayamsevak. We all are RSS Swayamsevaks. Even Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi and Narasimha Rao government tried to ban RSS but could not succeed.
The Karnataka BJP president said, “Try to ban Bajrang Dal and RSS, Congress will be burnt to ashes… Priyank Kharge should watch his words.”
Priyank Kharge on Thursday reiterated that his party is ready to ban Bajrang Dal. He had also said earlier that “we will not hesitate to ban those organizations which are involved in moral policing. It could be RSS or Bajrang Dal or any other communal organisation.”
Kharge had also said: “We will change the laws brought by the BJP government. If any person or organization is a threat to peace, and acts against the Constitution, the government has the competence to initiate appropriate action against him.”