RSS distances itself from ex-chief Sudarshan over remarks against Sonia

NEW DELHI: FORMER RSS chief K S Sudarshan’s anti-Sonia Gandhi diatribe has evoked a strong reaction not just from Congress, but also from within his own organisation, and BJP too.

By the end of day, it was evident that Mr Sudarshan had become isolated, with not even RSS, or its affiliate, BJP, coming to his rescue.

Addressing a rally organised in Bhopal on Wednesday to protest the chargesheet against senior RSS leader Indresh Kumar in Ajmer Sharif bomb blast case, Mr Sudarshan described the Congress president as “a CIA agent,’’ who “had plotted the assassination of her mother-in-law, Indira Gandhi and her husband, late Rajiv Gandhi.’’

Congress reacted sharply to Mr Sudarshan’s rant, describing them as manifestation of a “perverted mind,’’ and asked RSS and BJP to explain whether they agreed with his views. Congress media department chairman Janardan Dwivedi warned that his partymen would launch a silent and peaceful protests in all states against the former RSS chief’s utterances.

“We seek the support of all countrymen, media and enlightened sections in deciding whether such a language should be permitted in public life,’’ the Congress general secretary said.

“The RSS keeps harping about culture and civilisation. Is this a manifestation of their definition of culture? We condemn his utterances as baseless, uncivilised and utterly reprehensible,’’ Mr Dwivedi added.

Pushed on the back-foot, RSS distanced itself from Mr Sudarshan’s remarks., asserting that the views were not that of the organisation.

“The RSS has noted with concern reports in a section of the media attributing it to former sarsanghchalak K S Sudarshan. However, those are not the opinion of RSS,’’ Mr Ram Madhav, who’s a member of the organisation’s national executive, told newspersons.

He said RSS had never discussed such matters (contents of Mr Sudarshan's remarks) at any time or at any level, nor does it possess any such information.

BJP, too, distanced itself from Mr Sudarshan’s remarks. “Respect him (the former RSS chief), but I don’t agree with his statement,’’ Opposition leader Sushma Swaraj told newspersons on Thursday evening.