Cautioned by senior party leader Mallikarjun Kharge against the “trap laid by the RSS”, Congress president Rahul Gandhi may decline to participate in the three-day conclave of the Sangh in Delhi if an invite is extended for the programme.
“RSS is like a poison. They are trapping him by forcing him to drink poison by extending the invite. There is no need to drink poison,” Kharge who is also the leader of the party in Lok Sabha told this to Rahul in the core committee meeting of Congress earlier this week.
RSS is organising a three-day meeting at Delhi’s Vigyan Bhawan in the third week of September to discuss and debate ‘RSS Perspective on the Future of Bharat’. There were reports in the media about RSS inviting leaders of all political parties for the conclave in Delhi, including CPM general secretary Sitaram Yechury and Congress president Rahul Gandhi.
Sonia Gandhi had also declined an invite from the RSS when she was the party president.
Rahul after taking charge of the party last year has launched a scathing attack on the Sangh. In one of the interactions during his Europe tour, he had compared Sangh to radical right-wing outfit Muslim Brotherhood.
Rahul is also facing a defamation suit in a Maharashtra court on his statements linking RSS to Mahatma Gandhi’s assassination.
Sources say at the core meeting Rahul and his team discussed their strategy for the Lok Sabha polls.
The Congress in the coming days will continue to mount pressure on the government over Rafael deal and demonetisation. At the same time, party will be treading cautiously not to get embroiled a polemical debate on issues which may trigger religion polarization. The Congress will project itself as a party which believes in One India.
(PTI)
