New Delhi [India], October 31 : Hours after Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge said that Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) should be banned, his party colleague Karti Chidambaram seemed to differ with him on the practicality of the demand, stating that "this kind of request obviously is not going to be acceded" and asked if a ban "is really feasible and sustainable in today's legal environment".
Kharge, who interacted with the media earlier in the day, said that in his personal opinion there should be ban on RSS.
Answering query about Kharge's remarks, Karti Chidambaram said he does not agree with the RSS-BJP's political ideology and no organisation should indulge in any activity which causes some sort of distress to the unity and integrity of India.
"This kind of request obviously is not going to be acceded. There was a time when the RSS was banned and then the ban was revoked... I don't agree with the RSS-BJP's political ideology, but I'm not too sure whether a ban is really feasible and sustainable in today's legal environment. And you've got to also understand that the government today is run by members right from the Prime Minister who are ardent members of the RSS," he said.
"This kind of argument, asking for the RSS to be banned, how is this government going to do it? Of course, no organisation should indulge in any activity which causes some sort of distress to the unity and integrity of India," he added.
In his remarks, Kharge said if PM Modi respects the views presented by India's firs Home Minister Vallabhbhai Patel, RSS should be banned.
"These are my personal views and I openly say that there should be one ( ban on the RSS). If PM respects the views presented by Vallabhbhai Patel, this should be done. All the wrongs in the country and all law and order issues here are due to BJP and RSS," Kharge alleged.
Kharge's remarks came after PM Modi accused Congress of not properly following Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel's legacy. PM Modi made the remarks in his speech at Rashtriya Ekta Diwas Programme in Kevadia in Gujarat.
"Sardar Saheb placed the sovereignty of the country above everything else, but unfortunately, in the years following Sardar Saheb's demise, the then governments were not as serious about the sovereignty of the country. On the one hand, the mistakes made in Kashmir, on the other hand, the problems arising in the North-East and the Naxalite-Maoist terrorism that flourished at various places across the country, these were direct challenges to the sovereignty of the country," PM Modi said.
"However, instead of following Sardar Sahib's policies, the governments of that era chose a spineless approach. The country suffered the consequences of this in the form of violence and bloodshed," he added.
PM Modi said many in today's younger generation may not know that Sardar Vallabhbhai wanted the entire Kashmir region to be merged, just as he had merged other princely states.
"But Nehruji did not let his wish be fulfilled. Kashmir was divided with a separate constitution and a separate flag. The country burned in the fire of the mistake that Congress had made on Kashmir for decades. Due to the poor policies of Congress, a part of Kashmir went under the illegal occupation of Pakistan. Pakistan gave impetus to terrorism, state sponsored terrorism. Kashmir and the country have paid such a heavy price. Yet, Congress has always been submissive to terrorism," he alleged.