Nothing to learn from RSS: Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan

Patna, Dec 28 (PTI) Congress leader Shakeel Ahmed Khan on Sunday said there is nothing to learn from the RSS which "stood against the national flag and did not participate in the 1942 Quit India Movement".

He was responding to a question on Digvijay Singh's statement, emphasising that the Congress should learn from the organisational capacity of the RSS.

Talking to reporters during the party's march from Sadaqat Ashram to Gandhi Maidan in Patna to pay homage at Mahatma Gandhi's statue on the occasion of Congress's Foundation Day, Khan said, "What should we learn from the RSS? They did not hoist the national flag for 52 years, and issued statements against Tiranga in 1948. Should we learn that? He alleged that the RSS did not participate in the 1942 Quit India Movement.

"They failed to take part in the 1942 movement. Savarkar apologised before the British to get out of jail," he said, asking, "Should we learn these things from the RSS?" Khan said Digvijay Singh's remark was at an individual level, adding that "he is free to have his opinion".

Singh, on Saturday, through a social media post on X, had lauded the organisational power of RSS-BJP.

Khan criticised the NDA government at the Centre for "ending" the MGNREGA scheme.

"Many people used to get work under MGNREGA, and a lot of work was done at the local level. Farmers benefited immensely, and labourers got guaranteed work," he claimed.

The Congress leader asserted that the government's decision to shift the funding liability on states will dilute the efficacy of the scheme.

He said, "Changing the name is one thing. They have definitely dared to change its name in bad faith, but the larger question is how much money will the Centre contribute under the scheme now".

Khan also charged the Union government with weakening the economic situation of the nation.

"Be it home, state or the country, nothing works well without improvement in the economic situation. They have degraded the economic situation of the nation," the senior leader claimed.

Talking of Bihar, he said, "The state is left with very limited monetary resources".

"The CM went with a bowl to Delhi. What did he get?" Khan remarked.

He said that the party leaders and workers are celebrating Congress's Foundation Day with immense joy.

"We are remembering our history, and mirroring that, we need to take inquilabi steps forward," he said, adding, "The manner in which the nation's economic status is weakened, we need to speak against that". PTI SUK RG