Congress Has ‘No Comments’ on Pranab’s Involvement in RSS Event

Former President Pranab Mukherjee will be the chief guest at an RSS event to be held on 7 June in Nagpur.

Former President Pranab Mukherjee. 

(Photo: PTI)

A day after former President and veteran Congress leader Pranab Mukherjee gave his consent to address an RSS event, the Congress has reportedly refrained from commenting on the issue.

According to NDTV, Congress spokesperson Tom Vadakkan said that the party had no comment to make on the issue.

Speaking to the channel he said:

Ask Pranab Mukherjee. The only comment we have is no comment.

Party member Sandeep Dikshit told the channel that Mukherjee had often called the RSS “anti-national, unpatriotic, immoral, dubious, fraud and vicious.”

Yet another senior Congress leader CK Jaffer Sharief has reportedly written a letter to Mukherjee over the event, requesting him to 'reconsider and avoid visiting.'

Meanwhile, Union Minister Nitin Gadkari said that Mukherjee’s acceptance of the RSS’ invite was ‘a good thing’.

If former President Pranab Mukherjee joins, it is good. What is the problem if the former President visits RSS event. RSS is an organisation of the nation. There should not be any political untouchability in the country.

Mukherjee will be the chief guest at the valedictory session of the ‘Sangh Shiksha Varg-Tritiya Varsh' or the Third Year Course – a training camp for the RSS volunteers – organised by the RSS on 7 June.

The Sangh leadership invites eminent people for the annual event held at its headquarters at Reshim Bagh in Nagpur.

We have invited the former president of India and it is his greatness that he has given his consent for participating in the programme.

Arun Kumar, RSS

Earlier this year, Mukherjee had also invited top Sangh leaders at the launch of the Pranab Mukherjee Foundation in Delhi.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat had also called on Mukherjee during the last days of his tenure as president. Mukherjee had also invited Bhagwat for lunch at Rashtrapati Bhavan.

A Sangh functionary said the official announcement regarding the former president’s attendance at the event will be made in a day or two.

The 25-day-long 'Sangh Shiksha Varg-Tritiya Varsh' is presently underway at the Hedgewar Smriti Mandir premises in the city's Reshimbagh area. Nearly 708 swayamsevaks from across the country are participating in the training camp.

Last week, Defence Minister Nirmala Sitharaman had visited the Hedgewar Smruti Mandir, memorial of RSS founder KB Hedgewar, and met senior Sangh leader Bhaiyyaji Joshi.