‘No difference between RSS, Jaish, Taliban’: Hariprasad

Bengaluru: Karnataka state Congress president, B. K. Hariprasad Monday compared the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) with terror organisations like Jaish-E-Mohammed and the Taliban, joining his party colleagues in criticising the BJP’s ideological parent for being “unregistered”.

“There is no difference between Jaishe-Mohammed, Taliban and RSS because all three are unregistered in this country,” Hariprasad told reporters Monday.

Priyank Kharge, Karnataka’s minister for home affairs says he is studying the RSS and has pressed for the organisation to register itself, disclose its funding and other details.

Hariprasad said the RSS does not sing ‘Vande Mataram’, the national anthem or hoist the Tricolour flag at their shakhas.

His statements came hours after a video of Karnataka Minister Yathindra Siddaramaiah went viral on social media.

“The RSS is like a thousand-headed venomous snake. It is filled with the poison of casteism, communalism and Manuvad. It is a snake that spits poison and seeks to poison the entire society. If we leave it unchecked, our society will be ruined, and our country will also be harmed,” Yathindra had said in Mysuru a day earlier.

Hariprasad’s statements mirrored the relentless attacks on the RSS by the D. K. Shivakumar-led Congress government, which even proposed policies to restrict the activities of the organisation.

Last week, Priyank Kharge said that the Cabinet had approved the Karnataka Regulation of Use of Government Premises and Public Property Bill, 2026, which seeks to regulate and govern the use of government premises and public property by private individuals, organisations, associations and societies.

Kharge, one of the RSS’ fiercest critics, said that the government plans to introduce this Bill in the ongoing (Monsoon) Session of the legislature and that it was not aimed at anyone in particular.

Reacting to cases filed against Sonia Gandhi, Rahul Gandhi and Mallikarjun Kharge for allegedly disrespecting the national song on Independence Day, Priyank said that none of them required a certificate of ‘Deshbhakthi” from the RSS or the BJP.

“Whether it is BJP Yuva Morcha, ABVP or whether it is RSS, we don’t need certificates of being national or anti-national from them. These are the same people who have not done anything for the freedom struggle, their political mentors did not even hoist the (Tricolour) for 52 years. The BJP is just weaponising these things. The national song, the national anthem, everything… they want to weaponise it,” Kharge told reporters.

However, there was no criticism against the statements from any Karnataka BJP leader on Monday.

“He does not understand or know what the RSS stands for. The RSS works with the belief that the nation comes first and serves without any selfish motive. It works for the country’s Sanatan traditions, culture, civilisation and development,” Delhi BJP MP Dharmshila Gupta told ANI Monday.

Former BJP leader and firebrand legislator Basanagouda Patil also objected to the comparison.

Patil said Yathindra had “new found love” for the RSS but it was the Congress that was a “thousand-headed poisonous snake” and they were making statements to impress Rahul Gandhi and a possible promotion in the party.

“Even (Jawaharlal Nehru, Indira Gandhi could not do anything. Then who are these Priyank) Kharge and Yathindra? They are speaking to appease Muslims but it has no meaning,” he said.

He added that the RSS had done nothing against the interests of the country.

“Like the Jaish-E-Mohammed, has the RSS bombed anyone? In this country, apart from peacefully safeguarding Sanatana Dharma, the RSS has never done anything treasonous,” Patil said.

(Edited by Viny Mishra)

Also read: This isn’t a new RSS. Only its vocabulary has changed for ‘New India’