After the CPI(M) now Rashtriya Janata Dal (RJD) chief Lalu Prasad too called for a ban on the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) equating it with the Popular Front of India (PFI), which was banned by the Union Home Ministry on Wednesday. He went a step ahead calling the RSS a “Hindu extremist organisation”. The BJP was quick to hit back, accusing Mr. Prasad of pursuing “pseudo secularism” and “vote-bank” politics.
Barring AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi, no political party has spoken against the PFI ban. The Congress too has spoken out in favour of the action against the PFI. Responding to the nationwide raids by the National Investigation Agency (NIA) on the offices of the Popular Front of India which was precursor to the ban, former Congress president Rahul Gandhi last Thursday said “there should be zero tolerance towards any form of communalism.” The CPI(M) Polit Bureau, in a statement on Monday, had taken a similar stance as Mr. Prasad.
“They keep raising the bogey of the PFI. It is the RSS, which is all about Hindu extremism [ ‘kattarpanth’], that deserves to be banned first,” Mr. Prasad said. Parallel to the Congress presidential polls, the RJD is also in the process of holding internal elections. Mr. Prasad spoke to reporters after filing nomination for the president post. He is the only candidate in fray.
