"RSS is an organisation founded by patriotic nationalists," Araga Jnanendra said. (File)
Slamming the former chief minister HD Kumaraswamy's statement on Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS), Karnataka Home Minister Araga Jnanendra on Wednesday said that "RSS is in the service of building a strong nation."
"RSS is an organisation founded by patriotic nationalists and is in the service of building a strong nation," Mr Jnanendra told reporters.
Earlier on Tuesday, while responding to the Karnataka BJP president Nalin Kumar Kateel's recent invitation to him to visit an RSS Shakha, Mr Kumaraswamy said, "I don't want their companionship. Haven't we seen what was taught in RSS Shakha? How to behave in the Vidhana Soudha...watching a blue film while the assembly session is on. Isn't such a thing taught to them (BJP) at RSS Shakha? Do I have to go there (to RSS shakha) to learn this?"
Mr Kumaraswamy asked, "I don't want their Shakha. Whatever I have learnt from the Shakha here, in the Shakha of the poor is enough. I have nothing to learn from theirs (RSS' Shakha)."
Refuting the remarks of the JD(S) leader, the minister said, "Ever since the founding of the organisation, the RSS leaders and its members are engaged in working selflessly for the cause of upholding the unity, integrity and the ethos of the nation."
Stating that both the Congress and the JD(S) leaders are indulging in maligning the RSS, a patriotic organisation, he said, "Both the JD( S) and the Congress leaders are competing for each other with an eye on minorities' votes."