Call for RSS ban: Priyank Kharge receives threat, abuse calls

Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge on Tuesday claimed that he has been receiving phone calls "filled with threats, intimidation and filthiest abuses" directed at him and his family, as he dared to question and restrain RSS activities in government schools, colleges and public institutions, PTI reported.

"For the past two days, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Calls filled with threats, intimidation and the filthiest abuse directed at me and my family, simply because I dared to question and restrain RSS activities in government schools, colleges and public institutions," Kharge said in a post on 'X'.

However, the minister, who is the son of Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, asserted that he was neither shaken nor surprised.

"When the RSS didn’t spare Mahatma Gandhi or Babasaheb Ambedkar, why would they spare me?" he wondered. "If they think threats and personal jibes will silence me, they are mistaken. This has just begun."

He also said, "It is time to build a society founded on the principles of Buddha, Basavanna and Babasaheb, society rooted in equality, reason and compassion and purge this nation of the most dangerous viRuSS," mocking RSS.

A political row had erupted in Karnataka the previous day after Priyank Kharge called for a ban on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activities in government institutions and public spaces, prompting sharp reactions from BJP leaders.

Rajya Sabha MP Narayansa Bhandage mocked the minister, saying he was confused about Priyank Kharge’s name as both men and women share similar names. Responding in kind, Kharge said, “whatever and however I am, I am good,” before adding, “If their fathers had given birth to them leisurely, this would not have happened,” a remark that further fueled the controversy.

Kharge had urged Chief Minister Siddaramaiah to prohibit RSS programmes in public spaces and government offices, arguing that the organisation's activities were “contrary to India’s unity and the spirit of the Constitution.”

Kharge said that BJP leaders “have no brain or logic”. “These are people born leisurely by their fathers, and that’s why they behave like this,” he said, further escalating the war of words.