NEW DELHI: A remark by BJP MP Ramesh Jigajinagi questioning why a Dalit minister should be concerned about the RSS triggered a sharp response from Karnataka home minister Priyank Kharge on Thursday, with the Congress leader saying he “fears none” because he follows BR Ambedkar’s ideology.The controversy started from Priyank Kharge’s letter earlier this week to RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat, seeking clarity on the organisation’s legal status and asking it to disclose details of its funding, income, expenditure and assets in the interest of transparency and constitutional accountability.Addressing a press conference in Vijayapura on Wednesday, Jigajinagi criticised the move, saying Priyank Kharge was overstepping his role as Home Minister.“Is it his job to ask such questions about RSS? People will only tell him (what RSS is). Whoever came in the way of RSS did not survive. He is unnecessarily picking up an issue with the RSS. We feel bad about it,” the BJP MP said, according to news agency PTI.“My question is – why does this Dalit man need to be concerned about the RSS?” he asked.Jigajinagi also said Priyank Kharge became a minister because his father, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge, had “toiled hard” for the party and advised him to focus on governance instead of targeting the RSS.Responding to the BJP leader, Kharge said Jigajinagi’s remarks could be interpreted in several ways.“Is it a word of caution, advising Dalits not to associate with the RSS, which believes in the fundamentals of a hierarchical social order?” he asked.He also questioned whether the BJP MP was suggesting that, as a Dalit, he had no right to question “an organisation formed to safeguard the interests of those with a sense of social superiority.”Priyank Kharge further asked whether Jigajinagi’s remark that “no one who has taken on the RSS has survived” was made out of fear or intended to intimidate him.“What are the reasons behind this threat? What does he mean by saying ‘no one has survived’? Is the RSS a terrorist organisation? Does it eliminate those who question it?” the minister asked.Asserting that he draws strength from Ambedkar’s ideals, Priyank Kharge said, “I am a follower of Babasaheb’s ideology. The courage to question and my intellectual conviction come from him. Those who believe in Babasaheb do not fear.”“I fear only a lack of morality, not threats, because Ambedkar’s blood runs in our veins,” he added.
