Maharashtra Guv takes a jibe at Rahul Gandhi, recalls conversation on black cap and RSS

Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday mocked Congress leader Rahul Gandhi by sharing details of his interaction when the Congress leader had linked Koshiyari's black cap with Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS). Addressing a book launch event in the national capital, the Maharashtra Governor said that he had once answered Rahul Gandhi's question on his black cap by saying that people of Uttarakhand wear it however the Congress leader denied it and said 'no, no, you're from RSS'. The personal interaction was from the time when Koshiyari was a Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) MP. 

Accepting the fact that he is from RSS, the Maharashtra Governor explained that the black cap was Uttarakhand's tradition. Few months after that interaction, Gandhi had again asked him why he wears that black cap, to which Bhagat Singh Koshyari questioned his knowledge of RSS, and the Congress leader replied, 'yes, yes, I've read Savarkar.' It is important to mention here that even though Savarkar is a Hindutva ideologue, he was never in the RSS.

"Piyush ji (Leader of the House in Rajya Sabha) you'll have to live with this when such people are in leadership," added Koshiyari. Before Koshyari's speech, Union Minister Piyush Goyal had slammed the opposition's conduct in the Monsoon Session as he lauded the Maharashtra Governor's "sincere and dignified" role as an MP in Parliament.

Rahul Gandhi on RSS

The statement from Maharashtra Governor came as Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has criticised the RSS organisation several times in the past. Earlier, in July Gandhi had Launched a veiled attack on the Congress leaders who had switched to the Bharatiya Janata Party, saying that the party does not need those who believe in RSS ideology and fear the BJP. Rahul Gandhi's message to Scindia, and Prasada at that time was 'run to RSS, Congress doesn't need you'.

In an interview in March 2021, Gandhi had alleged the organisation of attacking the higher education institutions in the country through their schools and likened them to "madrasas used by radical Islamists in Pakistan". Several political leaders had condemned his statement during that time calling it 'foolish'. 

Hitting out at RSS, the Congress leader alleged that it is doing something "fundamentally different" and filling up the institutions of the country with its people. "So, even if we defeat the BJP in the election, we are not going to get rid of their people in the institutional structure," he said. 

Responding to Rahul Gandhi's allegations, RSS leader Indresh Kumar had asserted, "Rahul, for quite some time, has been acting as an agent to Pakistan and China. He always slings mud at Nationalist and humanitarian people, and now it has become a habit. I just want to say that may God bless him with some brain. At least he has accepted the past that Emergency was indeed a mistake by Congress and Indira Gandhi."

(With ANI inputs)