Karnataka govt targeting RSS to hide failures: Pralhad Joshi

New Delhi, Oct 16 (IANS) Union Minister for Food and Civil Supplies Pralhad Joshi said that to cover up its failures, the state government is attempting to impose restrictions on the RSS.

Speaking at a press conference in New Delhi on Thursday, Minister Joshi stated that the situation in the state is clearly turning against the Congress government, adding that at every level, there is talk of the government’s failures, stalled development, and infighting within the Congress.

“To divert attention from all of this, the government has hatched this conspiracy. We will see what notice the Karnataka Congress government issues against the RSS. Only after that will a decision be made. The RSS will first discuss the action taken by the government and then decide on the response. After that, we will take our stand,” he said.

He further said that a state minister had written a letter to the Chief Minister about the RSS, and the CM too had written to the state secretary.

“They are talking about adopting the Tamil Nadu model. Today, Law and Parliamentary Affairs Minister H.K. Patil seems to have brought this up in the cabinet meeting and moved towards taking action,” he said.

Highlighting the government’s failures, several senior Congress leaders, including R.V. Deshpande, Basavaraj Rayareddy, and MLA Raju Kage, have openly expressed their dissatisfaction. “To patch up these issues, the state government is rushing against the RSS and attempting to divert the topic,” Joshi alleged.

“Last year, when legislators rebelled against the government, Chief Minister Siddaramaiah promised to release Rs 25 crore for each constituency and additional funds for road development. But where was this given? Not even money to fill potholes has been released,” he claimed.

He said that before coming to power, the government had announced 200 units of free electricity to all.

“But later, they added 10 per cent extra charges on usage and deceived the people. Till today, their promise has not been fulfilled. The Supreme Court has clearly directed the government to hold elections for the BBMP. Except for allocating some grants there, no money has been released for the development of any other constituency in the state. They have not even paid salaries to local body employees.”

He said, meanwhile, people are being burdened with price hikes. Fees have been increased even for birth and death certificates.

“To divert attention from all this, the government is making attempts to control the RSS and its activities. But the RSS will not bow down to any of this,” he alleged.

Earlier, the Karnataka government decided to make it mandatory for all private organisations to obtain prior permission from the concerned government authorities before holding events.

The move comes following Minister Priyank Kharge’s demand to ban activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in public places.

--IANS

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