Union Education Minister Pralhad Joshi on Friday criticised Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge over his comments on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh’s (RSS) route march, urging him to stop repeatedly targeting the organisation and focus on his ministerial duties.
Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, Joshi said RSS route marches were not a new development and had been conducted since the time of Priyank Kharge’s father, Congress president Mallikarjun Kharge. He noted that such marches had also taken place when Mallikarjun Kharge and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara served as Home Ministers.
Joshi advised Priyank Kharge against politicising the issue, saying questions related to the RSS should be addressed by the organisation itself. Highlighting Karnataka’s drought situation, worsening law and order and the lack of development work, he urged the Home Minister to concentrate on these pressing concerns rather than repeatedly focusing on the RSS.
Commenting on the controversy surrounding an alleged sting operation and a pen drive threat involving former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Joshi expressed concern over reports that the device was being used to pressure him to resign. He said the episode was shocking and had undermined Karnataka’s dignity.
Joshi said political disagreements with Siddaramaiah were natural, but using a pen drive to threaten a senior leader and pressure him to step down, both within the state and the Congress party, reflected a decline in political standards. He called on the Congress high command to clarify who was behind the pen drive controversy and the alleged threat against Siddaramaiah.
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