Priyank Kharge questions RSS funding, registration amid Karnataka march row

With the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Dalit organisations such as Bhim Army and Dalit Panthers planning to hold marches in Chittapur in Kalaburagi district of Karnataka on November 2, the state is heading for a major showdown.

As Dalit bodies have sought permission to hold a march as an alternative to the RSS's path sanchalan (route march), Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge, who represents Chittapur in the state Asesembly, has found himself in the middle of the row. However, while he has been accused of supporting the Dalit organisations’ programme, the minister showed no signs of being cowed down and hit back at the RSS, questioning the source of its funds.

'Where is money coming from?'

Speaking with reporters in Bengaluru on Wednesday (October 22), the Congress leader said, “...where is the money coming from for this unregistered organisation? To stitch the clothes, to conduct marches, to purchase the drums and trumpets, to build the buildings, where is the money coming from? If you (RSS) are unregistered, how are you getting the money?”

Also read: RSS at 100: Hindutva is an ideological camouflage for its Brahminical core

“The same law should apply to everyone in the state. If permission is given, anyone can march; if permission is not given, they should remain silent. Here, the same criteria will apply to Dalit organisations and the RSS,” Kharge, son of the Congress’s national president and MP Mallikarjun Kharge, added.

“....throw the RSS registration on my face, saying that RSS is a registered organisation. There ends the matter,” Priyank, who has been constantly targeting the RSS by writing to the chief minister seeking restriction of activities in public places and disciplinary action against government employees associated with it, said while replying to a question.

'RSS is not registered because...'

Claiming that the RSS is unregistered so that they don’t come under the ambit of law, Priyank added, “If you are registered, you will have to pay the taxes, ensure compliance under the Registrar of Companies, Society Registration Act, NGO Act. They will have to share information about foreign and private donations, and domestic funding. So they are not getting registered.”

Also read: CPI toughens stand against Kerala education minister's decision to join PM SHRI

Priyank defended the Dalit organisations, saying many such bodies sought permission for holding the march in Chittapur, and the criteria should be the same for everyone.

“If the atmosphere is calm, permission can be given; otherwise it cannot. All organizations should give details of the number of participants in the march and the route and get permission,” he said.

Refuting allegations that he influenced the withdrawal of the case against rioters in the past, Priyank said he never gave illegal advice.

Also read: RSS at 100: How Italian fascism influenced Hindu nationalist politics

“During the previous BJP government, only innocent people were included in the cases,” Kharge said.

“Cases were registered against innocent people not only in Chittapur and Kalaburagi, but also in the entire state. When Basavaraj Bommai was the home minister, he had said that he would withdraw the cases. Now I have instructed him to take action under the law. The BJP is not able to answer my questions. For that, it is harassing me personally and threatening my family,” Kharge said.

Priyank responds to Ananth Kumar's daughter

Responding to a tweet by the late Ananth Kumar's daughter, who criticized his post on the late leader, the minister said he did not know much about her. He reiterated that Ananth Kumar was seen in the video that he posted on Tuesday (October 21), showing the former Union minister with former Karnataka chief minister BS Yediyurappa.

Also read: Karnataka to bring rules to check RSS activities in public places

“Have the @BJP4Karnataka leaders forgotten that it was revealed in the conversation between Shri Yediyurappa and the late Shri Anant Kumar that ₹1800 crore in black money was given to the BJP high command? If they have forgotten, we are reminding them once again,” Priyank wrote the post on X in Kannada.

“Everything will be known after the investigation. They also know very well how the BJP treated his family,” the Congress leader said in response to Ananth Kumar’s daughter.

B K Hariprasad slams RSS

Senior Congress leader B K Hariprasad, who is a member of the Karnataka Legislative Council, was also critical of the RSS. Speaking to reporters in Delhi, he also raised questions about the RSS not getting registered and about their funding.

Also read: Priyank Kharge says receiving threats after call to curb RSS activities in Karnataka

“...to demand information about the funding, they should be a registered organisation. The Congress party, as well as the BJP, is registered with the Election Commission of India. Where is the RSS registered?” he asked.

Ex-Karnataka Deputy CM defends RSS

BJP leader and former Karnataka deputy chief minister C N Ashwath Narayan said it was not necessary for every organisation to get registered.

“Every individual and organisation has the freedom to carry out their activities legally and constitutionally in a democracy...there is nothing that it should be a registered organisation. RSS is a voluntary organisation for building the country socially, religiously, culturally and educationally,” he told reporters in Bengaluru.

Meanwhile, in Thane, Maharashtra, the state’s Deputy Chief Minister Eknath Shinde on Wednesday condemned attempts to curb the RSS’s activities, calling them “unfortunate”.