The political temperature in Karnataka surged after Minister Priyank Kharge’s controversial letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, seeking a ban on RSS activities in government premises, sparked a massive backlash from the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP). The state BJP retaliated strongly, sharing an old photograph of Mallikarjun Kharge, now AICC president and then Home Minister, visiting an RSS camp in Bengaluru and praising the organisation’s social work.
The photo, which has gone viral, has become the centrepiece of the BJP’s counterattack, with leaders accusing Priyank Kharge of hypocrisy and ignorance of his own family’s political history. BJP leaders allege that the minister’s anti-RSS rhetoric is an attempt to please the Gandhi family and divert attention from the Congress government’s failures.
Leader of the Opposition R. Ashoka led the charge with a post on X, writing, “Minister Priyank Kharge, how much more will you slander the RSS to please the fake Gandhi family? Do you know that during the Samarasata Sangam of the Sangh held in Nagawara, Bengaluru, in 2002, your father, then Home Minister Mallikarjun Kharge, personally visited the RSS camp, appreciated their social service, and offered full cooperation? First learn your family’s history before speaking about nationalist workers.”
ಇಲ್ಲೊಮ್ಮೆ ನೋಡಿ @PriyankKharge !
ಇಂದು ನೀವು ಆರೆಸ್ಸೆಸ್ ವಿರುದ್ಧ ವಿಷ ಕಾರುತ್ತಾ ಸಂಘದ ಚಟುವಟಿಕೆ “ನಿಷೇಧಿಸಬೇಕು” ಎಂದು ಹೇಳುತ್ತಿದ್ದೀರ. ಆದರೆ 2002ರಲ್ಲಿ ಬೆಂಗಳೂರಿನ ನಾಗವಾರದಲ್ಲಿ ನಡೆದ ಸಮರಸತಾ ಸಂಗಮ ಕಾರ್ಯಕ್ರಮದ ಸಮಯದಲ್ಲಿ, ಅಂದು ಗೃಹಸಚಿವರಾಗಿದ್ದ ನಿಮ್ಮ ತಂದೆ ಮಲ್ಲಿಕಾರ್ಜುನ ಖರ್ಗೆ ಅವರು ಸ್ವತಃ ಆ ಶಿಬಿರಕ್ಕೆ ಭೇಟಿ… https://t.co/rCjUtLvk5y pic.twitter.com/kTdiNm9weu
— BJP Karnataka (@BJP4Karnataka) October 12, 2025
Ashoka’s post quickly gathered traction online, with BJP cadres amplifying the message and branding the Congress’s latest move as “anti-Hindu” and “anti-national.” Ashoka also attacked Priyank in a fiery speech at the BJP office, saying, “Those who planted cooker bombs are brothers for the Congress. They should be banned first. If you try to touch the RSS, you will be burnt to ashes. The government playgrounds are not the private property of the Congress or its leaders—they belong to the people. I will go to the ground myself. Let them try to stop me.”
He further declared that neither Nehru nor Indira Gandhi could suppress the RSS. “Do you think you can? RSS is an elephant of nationalism, and mosquitoes like you can’t even bite it. Even if ten more generations of the fake Gandhi family come, they can do nothing,” he thundered, drawing applause from BJP workers.
When asked about the RSS workers using sticks to intimidate others, Joshi clarified, “The lathi is a form of traditional exercise and discipline, not intimidation. The Congress calls those who plant cooker bombs and carry swords’ brothers’, but calls RSS workers dangerous. If they have courage, let them catch those who roam with swords.”
Responding to Congress leader B K Hariprasad’s remark comparing the RSS to the Taliban, Joshi quipped, “First check what position Hariprasad holds in his party. In Congress, abusing the RSS seems to be the fastest way to become a minister. It’s pitiable.” He added mockingly, “This is the same Hariprasad who once joked about wanting to see Siddaramaiah’s shorts.”
Joshi also accused the Congress government of “blatant anti-Hindu bias,” citing the police’s refusal to permit DJs during Ganesh immersion in Bankapur. “Before banning DJs during Hindu festivals, stop the loudspeaker noise from other religious groups. Why this selective enforcement? This is discrimination,” he said, adding that the local Ganesh idol, which was to be immersed after 21 days, is now being delayed for 45 days due to government interference.
Adding to the BJP’s chorus, Union Minister Pralhad Joshi also criticised Priyank Kharge’s letter, calling it “a failed and foolish attempt to please his political masters.” Speaking at a public event in Bankapur, Shiggaon taluk, Joshi reminded that “many such orders have come and gone,” and that the RSS had survived decades of political hostility. “From Jawaharlal Nehru to Indira Gandhi and P.V. Narasimha Rao, many Congress leaders tried to curb RSS activities but failed. The RSS has completed 100 years. People of India have accepted it wholeheartedly. You can issue all the orders you want—people will stand with the Sangh,” Joshi said.
