Jaipur (Rajasthan) [India], October 2 : Rajasthan Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) president Madan Rathore on Thursday lashed out at Congress MP Rahul Gandhi over the latter's remarks against the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), and said that remarks made by the Lok Sabha Leader of the Opposition (LoP) should be condemned.
"No politician, especially the Leader of the Opposition in the Indian Parliament, should make any statement without adequate information. Whatever statements he made abroad, regarding a major Indian organisation, are unfortunate and should be condemned," Rathore told ANI.
His remarks follow Gandhi's statement on Thursday, in which he said that "cowardice" was at the heart of the ideology of the RSS and the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP).
Citing External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar's statement about China that he made in 2023, Gandhi said that RSS' ideology is to "beat up weak people" and run away from those who are stronger than them.
"This is the nature of BJP-RSS. If you notice a statement of the foreign minister, he said, 'China is much more powerful than us. How can I pick a fight with them?' At the heart of the ideology is cowardice," Gandhi, who is the Leader of Opposition (LoP) in Lok Sabha, said while addressing a gathering in an event at EIA University of Colombia.
He further cites an incident from Vinayak Damodar Savarkar's book, where the Hindutva ideologue writes, "he and his friends beat up a Muslim man and felt happy about it."
"In his book, Savarkar has written that once he and his few friends beat up a Muslim man, and they felt very happy that day. If five people beat up a single individual, which makes one of them happy, it is cowardice. This is RSS ideology, to beat weak people," he added.
Gandhi further took a swipe at the Narendra Modi government, asserting that the biggest challenge India is witnessing is the attack on its democracy. He highlighted the issue of "structural flaws" and suggested that the country's diverse traditions must be allowed to thrive.
"India has strong capabilities in areas like engineering and healthcare, so I am very optimistic about the country. But at the same time, there are also flaws in the structure that India has to correct. The biggest challenge is the attack on democracy taking place in India," Gandhi said.