Karnataka home minister Priyank Kharge has revived the allegation that the RSS is not a registered organisation.

Asked by reporters in Kalaburagi on Wednesday on the RSS’s registration, Priyank questioned how an organisation like the Sangh, which calls itself a “body of individuals”, can operate without formal registration as an NGO or a trust. Priyank said he had demanded that the RSS prove its legal standing.

“I’m asking the RSS, as an organisation, to get itself registered. There is a very clear distinction between the two. I don’t care who its members are. First, let the organisation get registered. In this country, every street vendor is registered. Every temple has to provide an account, and every donation is accounted for. But the RSS is not accountable because it is not registered. They claim to be the world’s largest organisation and say that they are serving humanity across the country,” Priyank said.

He also demanded transparency on funding, functioning and tax exemptions.

Reacting to Priyank’s outburst, Karnataka MLC (nominated) and BJP leader C.T. Ravi said that even former Prime Ministers like Jawaharlal Nehru and Indira Gandhi couldn’t ban the RSS.

During the previous Siddaramaiah government, then IT minister Priyank had written a letter urging him to ban the RSS.