Congress criticises PM Modi’s RSS praise in I-Day speech, says violation of secular republic

New Delhi:Congress MP and former Union Minister Jairam Ramesh on Friday targeted Prime Minister Narendra Modi for praising Rashtriya Swayamsewak Sangh — the ideological mentor of the ruling BJP — in his Independence Day speech.

Soon after PM Modi acknowledged the social contribution of the RSS — “world’s largest NGO”, Ramesh said, “The Prime Minister’s speech from the ramparts of the Red Fort today was stale, hypocritical, lacklustre, and alarming.”

Calling the PM’s 103-minute address a “dull mix of self-praise”, Ramesh wrote on X, “The most alarming aspect of the Prime Minister’s speech today was mentioning the RSS from the ramparts of the Red Fort — a blatant violation of the spirit of a constitutional, secular republic.”

The politicisation of a national occasion like Independence Day for personal and organisational gain is deeply harmful to our democratic values, said the General Secretary in charge of Communications of the Congress.

Friday’s I-Day speech was not the first occasion on which PM Modi has praised the RSS. Earlier this year, in a podcast with AI researcher and podcaster Lex Fridman, he credited the RSS for giving him a purpose in life, inculcating the spirit of a nation first and nurturing him with a service-driven philosophy.

“Through the RSS, I found a life of purpose. Then I was fortunate to spend some time among the saints, which gave me a strong spiritual foundation. I found discipline and a life of purpose,” he said.

The PM also showcased the social causes to which RSS, over the past 100 years, has devoted its energy, touching the lives of tribals, women, labourers and youth.

Earlier, Ramesh claimed that PM Modi’s I-Day speech lacked “any honest mention of the country’s deep economic distress, unemployment crisis, and rapidly growing economic inequality”.

He alleged that PM Modi’s talk of protecting farmers now sounds hollow and untrustworthy, as they tried to impose three black agricultural laws.

“Even today, there is no concrete announcement regarding a legal guarantee for MSP, fixing MSP with a 50 per cent profit over costs, or loan waivers. On job creation, too, only superficial talk was made, with no solid or credible roadmap,” he said, crediting the Congress government for establishing the country’s first semiconductor complex in Chandigarh in the early 1980s.

The Congress MP also demanded answers regarding the credibility of the electoral process. “In Bihar, millions of voters are being deprived through the Special Intensive Revision (SIR) of voter lists,” he said.

IANS