RSS demands Rahul’s apology over remark

Asking Congress vice-president Rahul Gandhi to clarify whether he will “stand by every single word” he had mentioned in his affidavit in the Supreme Court or the “lie” in his public speeches against it, the RSS on Friday demanded an apology from him.

“Stand by every word I said about RSS: R. Gandhi. Which words, in affidavit filed in court or the ‘lie’ uttered in public speech ,” asked RSS communications department head, Manmohan Vaidya on Twitter.

The official facebook page of RSS said “Rahul Gandhi and Congress party should stop lying and apologise.”

In a post titled “Satyamev Jayate — The Truth Triumphs”, it cited an apology tendered by the Statesman in 2003 after a legal battle over an editorial in 2000.

The RSS said, “Do Rahul Gandhi and the Congress have respect for truth to give such an apology in writing and guarantee that he or his party will never utter the ‘lie’ again in future.”

A defamation case was filed against Mr Gandhi for his remarks made during an election rally last year. The Congress vice-president had approached the apex court seeking quashing of the case.

Appearing for Mr Gandhi in the apex court, senior advocate and Congress leader Kapil Sibal had cited an affidavit saying Mr Gandhi had only accused certain people of RSS and not the organisation as those who assassinated Mahatma Gandhi.

Dismissing suggestions that he had made a U-turn on RSS role in killing Mahatma Gandhi, the Congress VP on Thursday had said he stood by “every single word” he said. “I will never stop fighting the hateful and divisive agenda of the RSS. I stand by every single word I said,” he tweeted.

He buttressed his stand by citing paragraphs from his affidavit filed in the Bombay High Court while challenging the summons issued to him as an accused for his alleged defamatory statement in an election rally in Maharashtra.