JOIN USCan meet, hug Varun Gandhi, but can never accept his ideology: Rahul
At a time BJP MP Varun Gandhi is making noises unpalatable to his party raising speculation about his future political destinations, top Congress leader Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said he can "meet and hug" his cousin but cannot agree with the ideology supporting the RSS.
Rahul said one has to slit his throat to make him visit the RSS office but it appears that Varun "probably even now" accepts the RSS ideology, which he has made his own.
The remarks came at a press conference to a question whether Varun would be welcome to the Bharat Jodo Yatra and Congress. Varun, an MP from Pilibhit, is making statements that go against the BJP line and has questioned several initiatives of the Narendra Modi government.
"He (Varun) is in the BJP and it will, probably, be a problem for him if he walks here (in yatra). My ideology does not march with his ideology. I can never go to the RSS office. You will have to slit my throat to make me do that. I won't do that," he said.
Rahul said the Gandhi-Nehru family has an ideology and a thought system. "Varun, at one time, and probably even now, accepted that ideology and made that his own. I can’t accept that. I can meet him. I can hug him. But I cannot accept that ideology. It is impossible," he said.
Recalling an earlier conversation with his cousin, Rahul said Varun had told him that the RSS is doing a lot of good work in the country. "I told him, you read the history of your own family. Understand it. Because what you have told me, if you understood your family’s ideology, you would never say it," he said while emphasising that there is no "hatred or anything of that sort" towards Varun.
Rahul's comments came at a time there is speculation that Varun, who is sidelined in the BJP after Modi assumed Prime Ministership, may join Congress after leaving the BJP before 2024 Lok Sabha election. Once the youngest BJP General Secretary, Varun fell out with the leadership after being sidelined and his mother being not considered to be in Modi's government in 2019.
Asked about RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat's recent comments that it was natural for Hindus to be aggressive as they were in a war for 1,000 years and Muslims should abandon the narrative of supremacy, Rahul said, "even Lord Ram felt compassion for Ravana when he was dying. Lord Ram was gentle, loving and affectionate. I don’t know where this gentleman is getting these ideas. They are certainly not Hindu ideas. They are RSS ideas."
He said he does not know which Hinduism Bhagwat is quoting as he has never heard about this in Bhagavad Gita or Upanishads which he has read.
"I have never heard that Hindus should be aggressive. Hinduism is all about observation, about self observation, about understanding the self, about humility, about compassion. I don’t know what he is talking about? Maybe he has not read these holy books," he said.
To a query on Home Minister Amit Shah's announcement that Ram Temple in Ayodhya will be open to devotees on January 1 next year, he said the attempt is to divide the country and spread hatred. He said they have managed to open a number of shops of love in a market of hatred and they will continue to do this.
Questioned about Congress leaders joining the BJP in Punjab, he said he was "quite happy that some riff-raff has gone somewhere else". He said leaders joining the BJP is generally the result of pressure from the CBI, ED and corruption and the party is "quite happy that these types of people are not in the party anymore".
On Navjyot Singh Sidhu's role in the party once he is out of jail, Rahul said everybody will have a role to play in a "democratic party" like the Congress and they would "like to involve all people and function together".