New Delhi: Senior BJP leader and MP Ravi Shankar Prasad on Sunday launched a sharp attack on the Congress after veteran leader Digvijaya Singh praised the organisational strength of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), saying it reflected a delayed realisation of the BJP’s robust grassroots structure.
Reacting to Singh’s remarks, Prasad said, “Digvijaya is realising after a long time that the BJP organisation is very strong, which is good.” He went on to take a swipe at the Congress leadership, particularly Rahul Gandhi, questioning his relevance within his own party.
“What does Rahul Gandhi say when the country does not take him seriously? Now, even his party does not take him seriously. Senior leaders like Digvijaya Singh say that Rahul Gandhi doesn’t listen, so what is the point of speaking to him?” Prasad said. He further claimed that repeated electoral defeats had weakened the Congress, adding that the party had been wiped out in several municipal corporations and local bodies and had performed poorly even in states like Maharashtra and Bihar. “He doesn’t even have the scope to run an electric rickshaw,” Prasad remarked.
The political row erupted after Digvijaya Singh shared an old black-and-white photograph of Prime Minister Narendra Modi with BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani on social media platform X. Praising the BJP and its ideological parent RSS for their organisational strength, Singh wrote in Hindi that the image reflected how an RSS grassroots volunteer and a Jan Sangh/BJP worker could rise to become a chief minister and eventually the prime minister.
“This is the power of organisation,” Singh wrote, referring to the journey depicted in the photograph, which shows PM Modi, Advani and several others at a public rally.
Within the Congress, Singh’s remarks triggered mixed reactions. Congress Rajya Sabha MP Rajni Patil defended him, saying, “Digvijaya Singh’s statement was not wrong in what we heard inside. Whatever he said publicly, he didn’t say anything wrong.”
BJP MLA Ram also backed Singh’s remarks, saying, “Whether knowingly or unknowingly, the truth has come out. Even Shashi Tharoor is praising Prime Minister Modi. Many senior Congress leaders, like Jyotiraditya Scindia and others, gradually distanced themselves from Rahul Gandhi and preferred working with the Prime Minister. Now, even former Chief Ministers and senior Congress leaders, whether or not their posts reflect it, were speaking from their true hearts. Later, under pressure from the Congress party, what they publicly said was only to appease Congress leaders. Truth can never be hidden; the real truth was revealed not in their words but in their posts.
Shiv Sena leader Shaina NC also commented: “This is an internal matter of the Congress party. If Digvijaya Singh wants to come out in the open with his outbursts, one must respect that. But let us understand that this is not just about Digvijaya Singh; it reflects the actual situation of a sinking ship, one of the oldest parties in the country. I think he is only echoing the sentiment of the entire Congress cadre, and it is amply clear that in the days to come, they will not even be in a position to be the Leader of the Opposition.”
Meanwhile, Congress leader T.S. Singh Deo sought to clarify the context of Singh’s remarks, saying there was nothing wrong in observing effective organisational practices. “If any organisation has something useful to adopt for better and more effective functioning, what is wrong in observing it? This is not about RSS. As far as I know, Digvijaya Singh clearly said that he completely rejects the ideology of RSS,” Singh Deo said.
The controversy has once again highlighted internal differences within the Congress.
(IANS)
