"Farther he goes from 'Sanatana', Siddaramaiah's voters distance themselves from him": VHP's Vinod Bansal on Karnataka cabinet's move to restrict RSS

Bengaluru (Karnataka) [India], October 19 (ANI): Vishva Hindu Parishad National Spokesperson Vinod Bansal on Sunday slammed Congress over their attempt to restrict the activities of Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the State, asserting that the farther the chief minister goes from 'Sanatana', their voters would also distance themselves from his governmet.
The VHP leader said that the entire family of the chief minister is a company of 'sanatanis ', and questioned the rationale of Siddaramaiah in taking this decision.
Speaking to ANI, Bansal said. "A CM in Karnataka, who has 'Ram' in his parents' names, who has 'Parvati' in the name of his wife and who himself is called Siddaramaiah, tells people to avoid the company of 'sanatanis'. What do the ministers of his cabinet say? Dismantle Sanatana because it is dengue, malaria and that they will ban RSS and Bajrang Dal. What kind of mindset is this? The farther they go from Sanatana, the farther their voters will go from them. Why can't they understand this?..."
Meanwhile, Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) leader Rajiv Tuli too criticised the Congress, saying the party's animosity towards the RSS is "old, not new". He recalled that former Prime Minister Jawaharlal Nehru had once in 1948 said "crush" the organisation and accused the party of being against "Indianness, nationalism, and Hindutva".
Tuli's remarks came as the Karnataka government is mulling new rules to restrict RSS activities in the State after its minister, Priyank Kharge, called for action against the organisation.
"Congress' animosity with RSS is old, not new. In 1948, one week before Mahatma ji's assassination, in his letter to a CM, Nehru ji said - Why is action not being taken against the RSS...He had said, 'I will crush the RSS.' The then Sarsanghchalak, responded with 'I will crush this crushing mentality'...In 1948, they pressured Sardar Patel to ban RSS. 28 days after the ban, Sardar Patel wrote a letter to Nehruji that he had come to know that RSS had no involvement in the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi," Tuli told ANI.
Later, the ban was revoked. The ban was reimposed in 1975 and then revoked in 1977...So, first Nehruji, then Indira Gandhi and then Narasimha Rao banned RSS thrice. They had to revoke the ban later...You can see the condition of Congress today. The Congress of AU Hume is against Indianness, nationalism and Hindutva sanatana...They opposed it earlier too and they oppose it now as well," he added.
The row over the RSS sparked in Karnataka when Priyank Kharge earlier requested a ban on RSS activities in government schools, colleges, and state-owned temples.
Earlier, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge informed that the state is mulling new laws against the RSS and has decided to strengthen the existing laws of non-participation of government employees in any political activities. (ANI)