Priyank Kharge Alleges Threat Calls After Seeking Ban on RSS Activities
The Karnataka minister says he and his family are being targeted with abusive calls but insists he will not be silenced.
Bengaluru: Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge claimed on Tuesday that he has been receiving a constant stream of threatening phone calls. He said the calls started after he urged the government to ban activities of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) on government premises.
In a post on the social media platform ‘X’, Kharge described the situation. “For the past two days, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing,” he wrote. “Calls filled with threats, intimidation and the filthiest abuse directed at me and my family.”
Despite the alleged intimidation, the minister, who is the son of Congress President Mallikarjun Kharge, stated that he was “neither shaken nor surprised.”
“When the RSS didn’t spare Mahatma Gandhi or Babasaheb Ambedkar, why would they spare me?” he questioned, reinforcing his determination. “If they think threats and personal jibes will silence me, they are mistaken. This has just begun.”
The controversy began after Kharge, who handles the Information Technology and Biotechnology portfolio, wrote a letter to Chief Minister Siddaramaiah. In the letter, he requested a ban on RSS ‘shakhas’ (meetings) in government schools, colleges, and public grounds.
He argued that such gatherings are used to instill “negative ideas in the minds of children and youth,” which he feels is against the spirit of the Indian Constitution and national unity.
Kharge concluded his post by calling for a society built on the principles of “Buddha, Basavanna and Babasaheb,” which he described as one “rooted in equality, reason and compassion.”
