Fresh fault lines have surfaced in the Karnataka Congress with several legislators raising a red flag over Deputy Chief Minister D K Shivakumar reciting lines from the RSS anthem in the Assembly. He recited them during light banter on August 21, when Leader of the Opposition R Ashoka talked about the Congress leader’s past association with the RSS. Former minister K N Rajanna said that Shivakumar could get away with anything.
Public Works Department Minister Satish Jarkiholi put the onus for action on the Congress high command and Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, while MLC B K Hariprasad said he would have sought an apology from Shivakumar if he had recited the lines in his capacity as the party’s state chief.
Replying to media queries, Jarkiholi said on Monday, “At our level, we cannot make a decision or come to a conclusion,” he said.
Asked if Shivakumar’s act was not in conflict with the stance of Rahul Gandhi, the leader of the Opposition in Lok Sabha, Jarkiholi said, “Some issues do not reach him. There should be an attempt to make sure that he learns about it.”
Jarkiholi’s remarks, however, came a day after he appeared to defend Shivakumar. “I too can sing (the RSS anthem). But will they make me CM? No,” the minister then said, adding that one cannot oppose everyone all the time and that it was not right to say Shivakumar would join the BJP just because he recited lines from the anthem. “It is not wrong, he knows it… We should always have counter-intelligence,” he said.
Noting that RSS was banned thrice in the past, MLC Hariprasad said that it was not wrong to sing the anthem in Shivakumar’s capacity as deputy chief minister, because he represented people from varied backgrounds.
“But as KPCC president, he should not say that. If he had said so as KPCC president, he should apologise,”
Hariprasad said, arguing that it was not right to sing the anthem of an organisation “that killed Mahatma Gandhi”. “I don’t know to whom he wants to please and send a message to,” he said.
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Rajanna, who had to quit as a minister after blaming the Congress Government for the lapses in the electoral rolls that led to the alleged “vote theft” in Karnataka during the Lok Sabha polls, told reporters, “He can recite the RSS song, share the dais with (Union minister) Amit Shah at an event of Sadhguru… He can attend the Ambani wedding where even Rahul Gandhi decided not to go.” He added that the party would take the right decision at the right time.
Priyank Kharge’s reminder ‘for every patriot’
Adding to the discussion was a cryptic post on X by Information Technology and Biotechnology Minister Priyank Kharge. Calling the RSS a “toxic organisation”, he said that leaders such as Dr Babasaheb Ambedkar and Sardar Vallabhbhai Patel had warned people about the organisation.
“The RSS, which did not accept the Constitution and burnt its draft, which does not respect the national flag, and which has an agenda of treating women and the oppressed as third-class citizens, is not only an enemy of the Congress but also the greatest enemy of the unity of this country. Every patriot must keep this in mind,” he wrote in the post in the early hours of Sunday.
Shivakumar’s singing the RSS anthem triggered speculations about his having his eyes set on Siddaramaiah’s chair. Allegations of “soft Hindutva” practised by some Congress leaders also surfaced. Shivakumar later clarified that he was a “born Congressman” and said, “We have to learn good qualities from everyone.”
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‘A melodious song’
Kunigal MLA H D Ranganath, a supporter of Shivakumar, sang the anthem again and called it a melodious song. “After DK Sir spoke about it, I read about the song. It asks to bow to the land you are born in. So I did not find anything wrong… We are a secular party. From all people and parties, we have to accept the good things,” he said on Sunday, adding that he opposed the BJP’s right-wing ideology, which he termed divisive.
“Our ideology and their ideology are not aligned, and there is no compromise on this. But I want to ask what is wrong in pointing out what is there in the RSS,” Rangnath said.