Karnataka minister to press RSS for registration and expenditure documents

Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge said on Tuesday he will continue pressing the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) to produce documents concerning its establishment and financial transactions, and indicated he may pursue legal action if he does not receive a satisfactory response.

Kharge launched the campaign this week, asking the century-old organisation to provide records proving its registration in India and details of its expenditures. He suggested the documents could be held at RSS headquarters in Nagpur, at local centres in Bengaluru, or with senior leaders, and urged authorities to allow time for the material to be located or prepared.

The minister stressed that his request was intended to clarify the organisation’s legal and operational status rather than target its history. He added that, as a law officer, he would act within legal limits and expected the same from the RSS. Kharge also indicated readiness to engage in discussions with representatives of the organisation and dismissed social-media commentary and legal critiques as unlikely to change his course of action.

The comments follow public exchanges with prominent lawyers and commentators who criticised Kharge’s demand for paperwork; the minister underlined that established legal standards must apply uniformly and signalled that failure to produce required documentation could prompt formal proceedings.