Idea of demonetisation came from RSS, not RBI or Jaitley, claims Rahul Gandhi

NEW DELHI: Attacking the ruling Narendra Modi government at the Centre, Congress president Rahul Gandhi on Tuesday said that the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) are making attempts to "capture" all institutions in the country.

"BJP Hindustan ke institutions ko capture karne ki koshish kar rahi hai. RSS apne logon ko har institution me daalne ki koshish kar rahi hai. Mohan Bhagwat Ji ka bayan to aapne suna hoga (BJP is trying to capture all institutions in India, RSS is trying to push its people in every institution. You must have heard what Mohan Bhagwat ji said)," he said.

The Congress president went on slamming RSS and said that the idea of demonetisation neither came from the Reserve Bank of India (RBI) nor Finance Minister Arun Jaitley. He claimed that it was the Sangh that gave the idea of demonetisation to Prime Minister Narendra Modi who then announced it on November 8, 2016.

"Do you know from where the idea of notebandi came from? It was not the RBI, not Arun Jaitley, it was not an officer in the Finance Ministry. It was a particular ideologue of the RSS. The RSS presses an idea into Prime Minister's mind and PM launches that idea," the Rahul said.

Earlier in the day, Rahul Gandhi trained guns at RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat for his remarks that the 'Sangh will prepare military personnel within three days which the Army would do in 6-7 months'.

Seeking an apology from the RSS chief, Rahul said that he had insulted the soldiers of the Army by making such a comment. "Mohan Bhagwat ji has insulted the sacrifices of our jawans. He should apologise for his remark," he said during his trip to poll-bound Karnataka.

Rahul had earlier also said that Bhagwat should be ashamed of drawing comparisons with the Army.

Speaking to the RSS cadre, Bhagwat had said that the Sangh can prepare an "army" within three days to fight for the country if such a situation arises. "This is our capability. Swayamsewak will be ready to take on the front if the country faces such a situation and Constitution permits to do so)," Bhagwat had said.

He had also said that the Sangh is neither a military nor a paramilitary organisation, but is like a "parivarik sangathan" (family organisation) where discipline is practised like the Army and where workers are always happily ready to make supreme sacrifice for their country.

However, the RSS issued a clarification saying that Bhagwat's speech was being misrepresented. RSS, in the statement, said: "Bhagwat ji had said that if situation arises and the Constitution permits, Indian army would take six months to prepare the society whereas Sangh Swayamsevaks can be trained in three days, as Swayamsevaks practise discipline regularly."

The statement also added that there was no comparison drawn between the Indian Army and the Sangh Swayamsevaks, but the comparison was between general society and swayamsevaks, when given the opportunity to be trained by the Indian Army.