Hubballi, Oct 23 — Union Minister for Education Pralhad Joshi on Friday hit back at Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge over his remarks on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) route march, asking him to stop repeatedly focusing on the organisation and instead discharge his responsibilities as a minister.
Speaking to reporters in Hubballi, Joshi said RSS route marches were not a recent phenomenon and had been held since the time of Priyank Kharge’s father, Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge.
RSS route marches had also taken place when several leaders, including Mallikarjun Kharge and Deputy Chief Minister G. Parameshwara, served as Home Ministers, he said, advising Priyank Kharge to stop politicising the issue and focus on other important responsibilities.
Joshi said questions concerning the RSS should be answered by the organisation itself. Pointing to the drought situation, deteriorating law and order and the lack of development works in Karnataka, he urged the Home Minister to pay attention to these issues instead of behaving as though he had no work.
Reacting to the controversy over an alleged sting operation and pen drive threat to former Chief Minister Siddaramaiah, Joshi expressed deep concern, saying that showing a pen drive to pressure him into resigning was shocking and had tarnished the dignity of Karnataka.
He said political differences with Siddaramaiah were natural, but threatening a senior leader of his stature with a pen drive and pressuring him to resign, both within the state and the Congress party, was damaging to political dignity and reflected a decline in political standards.
Joshi demanded that the Congress high command clarify who was behind the pen drive controversy and the alleged threat to Siddaramaiah.
The Union Minister also urged the state government to take stringent measures against the use and sale of manja (kite-flying string), which has reportedly caused fatalities in Karnataka.
He suggested that a dedicated portal be launched to monitor the use and sale of manja. The police should keep a close watch on its supply and use, identify those involved in bringing and using the string, arrest the accused and take appropriate legal action, he said.
Priyank Kharge had stated that Karnataka police are not slaves of the RSS to simply provide them security. He insisted that the RSS have to follow due procedures to get permission for conducting marches.