"BJP, RSS taking control of institutions": Ashok Gehlot defends Rahul Gandhi's 'Fighting Indian state' remark

New Delhi [India], January 17 (ANI): Senior Congress leader Ashok Gehlot has come in defence of Rahul Gandhi amid the backlash over his "fighting Indian state" remarks. Accusing the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of "taking control" over institutions, including the central investigative agencies and Election Commission of India (ECI), Gehlot said that the statement made by the Leader of Opposition (LoP) was "completely justified".
"For the last 10 years, the BJP and RSS have been trying to take control of all the institutions of the country by pressurising them. Today ED, CBI, Income Tax, Delhi Police and all the central agencies and independent organisations like Election Commission are also working at the behest of the government," Gehlot, who is the former Chief Minister of Rajasthan, posted on X.
Pointing out the biased working of these institutions, the Congress leader narrated the incident when judges of the Supreme Court held a presser apprising the media about "pressure" on the judiciary.
"During the tenure of this government, the judges of the Supreme Court also said in a press conference that there is pressure on the judiciary. The whole country is concerned about the biased working style of these institutions. The statement given by Shri Rahul Gandhi yesterday in this context is completely justified," Gehlot added.
He claimed that RSS never participated in the freedom movement, but "stood" with the British government. "It seems that even now the agenda of RSS-BJP is to keep control of all the institutions and use them against the opposition and the people," Gehlot said.
"From the very beginning, the intention of the RSS has been to join the government and become a part of it. That is why, during the freedom movement of India, they did not join the freedom movement but stood with the British government," he added.
The senior leader argued that the central government was "using" the Enforcement Directorate (ED) to "intimidate the public", citing the comments made by the Supreme Court in a recent case, where it said that the ED intended to keep people in jail.
"Yesterday, the Supreme Court commented on a case related to ED and said that the intention of ED is only to keep people in jail by making them accused. It is clear from this comment that the Central Government is using ED to intimidate the public," Gehlot said.
He further said that the BJP was "distorting" the statement made by Rahul Gandhi to divert attention from issues such as inflation and unemployment.
"Rahul Gandhi's statement alerts the countrymen about such a serious situation prevailing in the country. BJP leaders are twisting and distorting this statement and trying to divert the attention of the people from the main issues like inflation, unemployment. BJP leaders are trying to tarnish his image through media," he remarked.
While inaugurating the party's new headquarters 'Indira Bhawan,' on Wednesday hitting out at the BJP, Rahul Gandhi alleged that the Congress and other opposition parties were not just fighting the BJP but "the Indian state itself."
Congress MP Rahul Gandhi said, "Our ideology, like the RSS ideology, is thousands of years old and it has been fighting the RSS ideology for thousands of years. Do not think that we are fighting a fair fight. There is no fairness in this. If you believe that we are fighting a political organisation called the BJP or RSS, you have not understood what is going on. The BJP and the RSS have captured every single institution of our country. We are now fighting the BJP, the RSS and the Indian State itself." (ANI)