Rahul Gandhi’s comment like looking for women in men’s hockey match, says RSS leader

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is in Bhopal and the three-day meet is being attended by over 300 RSS functionaries. (Source: Pradip Das)

The RSS on Wednesday hit back at Rahul Gandhi’s comment that women are never seen in Sangh shakhas, with a top leader equating it with looking for women in a men’s hockey match. Insisting that the RSS chose to work only among men, the outfit’s all-India prachar pramukh Manmohan Vaidya said, “If he wants to see women, he should go to a women’s hockey match. Men and women don’t compete together in sports.’’ Vaidya said that women participate in other programmes.

He said the Congress leader’s scriptwriters were ignorant. The RSS connects families through men, he said. Parallel work for women is on, and they also attend events organised by the outfit, Vaidya told reporters on the eve of the organisation’s three-day Akhil Bharatiya Karyakari Mandal that will begin at Sharda Vihar Awasiya Vidyayala on the outskirts of Bhopal on Thursday.

RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat is in Bhopal and the three-day meet is being attended by over 300 RSS functionaries.
During an interaction with students in Vadodara on Tuesday, Rahul had said, “Have you seen a single woman at an RSS shakha wearing shorts? I have never seen any. Why aren’t women allowed in RSS? They (BJP) have so many women in the party, but I have not seen a single woman in the RSS. What mistake have they made?”

“When his grandmother (Indira) and father (Rajiv) were ruling, they unnecessarily tried to target the RSS. It did not help. While the Congress weakened, the RSS expanded,’’ Vaidya said, and advised Rahul to take on the BJP, and not the RSS, because it is not a political party. “Equating the RSS and the Congress is like trying to play cricket and hockey simultaneously.’’

He said working among men is the prerogative of the RSS and it is capable of taking care of itself.