The Congress on Wednesday cited two controversial financial deals to ask why the RSS remains an unregistered body, out of the accountability framework, despite being an important player in India’s power politics.
“We want to know why the RSS has not been registered so far. Why does it not keep a register of its members? Why does it not pay income tax? Do they own this country?” Congress spokesperson Pawan Khera asked.
One of the controversies involves two Sangh parivar members buying for Rs 18.5 crore a plot in Ayodhya that had sold for Rs 2 crore minutes earlier.
VHP leader Champat Rai and RSS functionary Anil Mishra — members of the trust set up to monitor the construction of the Ram temple — have denied any corruption in the land deal.
The other scandal involves a video and an audio that have been cited to accuse RSS leaders of negotiating commissions for releasing government payments in Jaipur to a private company.
While the Ayodhya controversy has attracted nationwide spotlight, Khera underlined that the other had been widely covered by the local media in Rajasthan.
“The video shows the zonal pracharak (the top RSS official in Rajasthan) Nimba Ram participating in a conversation about commissions with one Rajaram, a BJP leader and husband of the mayor of the Greater Jaipur Municipal Corporation, for releasing dues of Rs 276 crore to a Nagpur-based company, BVG. There is an audiotape also about the deal-making,” Khera said.
He played the video and the audio at the news conference.
BJP leaders have dismissed the video as an edited one and alleged a Congress conspiracy. The Rajasthan government’s anti-corruption bureau has started a preliminary investigation and promised an FIR if the video turns out genuine.
BVG had been awarded a contract for garbage collection in Jaipur by the previous Vasundhara Raje government in 2016. Of the pending Rs 305 crore, Rs 276 crore was to be released after levying a penalty for unsatisfactory work.
In one of the tapes, a man — alleged to be the mayor’s husband — is heard telling someone, purportedly from the BVG, not to make senior BJP leaders Nitin Gadkari and Devendra Fadnavis call his wife for the release of payments.
“It’s a shame that the top RSS official of the region is participating in a commission-seeking deal. Rajaram, husband of mayor Somya Gurjar who is in suspension because of a scuffle with the municipality commissioner, is telling the company official that the payment has to be made in cash, not by cheque,” Khera said.
“Some BJP leaders have said the negotiation was about a donation for the Ram temple. Commission money for the temple? Some said it was CSR (corporate social responsibility). Why not (pay by) cheque if it is CSR? And why is the RSS zonal head discussing it?”
Khera continued: “Why does the BJP bring in Lord Ram whenever they (leaders) are caught? Is Lord Ram a shield for corruption? The RSS has fooled three generations of Hindus.... The two scandals exposed their reality.
“We have seen the true culture of the RSS — its senior leaders are arm-twisting, blackmailing companies for commission. They can’t enjoy power without responsibility. They can’t escape accountability. The RSS people are also collecting donations for the Ram temple since 1999. Why has no audit taken place so far? Have they kept records; did they take all the donations by cheque?”
The Congress has demanded a Supreme Court-monitored investigation into the Ayodhya land deal and an audit of all the plots bought recently in connection with the proposed Ram temple.
