'Even Indira Gandhi didn't ask': RSS' Ram Madhav responds to Priyank Kharge

Senior RSS and BJP leader Ram Madhav has accused Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge of ignorance and political opportunism after the Congress leader questioned the legal status, funding and registration of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh.

Speaking to ThePrint, Madhav dismissed Kharge's demand that the RSS register itself and disclose its finances, arguing that the Sangh was not an organisation in the conventional legal sense but a group of individuals working for society, religion and culture.

"It's all politics. We need more knowledgeable people in government. Mostly the ignorance and political interest. It's a very deadly cocktail," Madhav said. "All RSS-related organizations are registered. All RSS schools are registered. All RSS and NGOs are registered. All RSS and organizations are registered."

Must watch: Priyank Kharge Seeks RSS Registration Details, Bhagwat Calls It Politics

'RSS is a body of individuals'

Madhav said the RSS itself did not require registration because it was a voluntary body of people rather than a formally constituted organisation. "RSS is a body of individuals who come together for the good of the society, good of our dharma, good of our culture, our civilisation," he said.

Pointing to the RSS headquarters in Delhi, Madhav said the property was managed by a duly registered trust. "RSS has an office in Delhi. Big office. But it's run by a trust. The trust is duly registered. That trust follows all the government norms and rules," he said.

He then targeted Kharge and others raising questions about the Sangh's status. "That's why I said you need a little knowledgeable people in the ministries, in the governments. Unfortunately, ignorant people sit there and ask all sorts of questions," Madhav said.

‘You should be asking Nehru’

Madhav argued that neither the British government, under which the RSS was founded in 1925, nor successive Congress governments had demanded its registration.

"There was never any such question that RSS should be registered. Neither the British asked it when RSS was first started in 1925. In any case, even if the British had asked RSS, they were straight away rejected. Nor did the Congress ever ask," he said.

Referring to the Congress governments that ruled India after Independence, Madhav said Kharge should direct his question at former prime minister Jawaharlal Nehru.

"Today, if some minister stands up and says, ' Why were you not registered? You should be asking Nehru, let him go and there and ask him why you did not ask RSS to register at that time," he said.

Madhav said former prime minister Lal Bahadur Shastri had invited the RSS chief for meetings, while Indira Gandhi’s government had imposed restrictions on the organisation during the Emergency without questioning its need for registration.

"Lal Bahadur Shastri called the RSS chief for meetings when he was prime minister. They all dealt with RSS. Indira Gandhi imposed an emergency on the RSS. Even she didn't ask because they all know that RSS is not an organization in the form of an organization that we understand," he said.

"It's just a group of people coming together. So I think this whole debate is just politically motivated. No sense to them," Madhav added.

What Priyank Kharge asked

Madhav was responding to Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge, who wrote to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat earlier this week asking the organisation to register itself, clarify its legal status and disclose its funding, income, expenditure and assets.

Kharge claimed that the RSS received donations through an ecosystem of more than 2,500 affiliated organisations in India and overseas, while operating from a large headquarters in Delhi and offices in state capitals.

"The RSS chief enjoys Advanced Security Liaison protocol, and other people of RSS have protocols funded by the taxpayer, and the public is entitled to know whether the organisation complies with the same legal standards expected of everyone else," Kharge said.

He argued that formal recognition under law would settle questions about the apparent contradiction between the RSS’s public influence and its legal status.

Bhagwat calls the registration demand 'politics'

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had rejected the registration demand during an interaction in Thrissur, Kerala, on Sunday, saying the organisation was neither secretive nor operating outside public scrutiny.

Bhagwat said the RSS had nothing to hide and conducted its activities openly. He described the demand for registration as "politics" and said the organisation had faced similar challenges before.

"Hindu Dharma is not registered. Many things are not registered. Those who want funds from the government require registration. That has to be there. But the government knows the Sangh exists," Bhagwat said.