RSS, BJP don't have right to represent Hindus: Congress

New Delhi: The Congress party on Friday said the RSS does not have the "character and courage" to admit that they are the "parent political party" of the BJP and stressed that they do not have the right to represent the Hindus.

"Despite talking about the affiliates' meeting (in Vrindavan), the Rashtriya Swyamsevak Sangh (RSS) still does not have the character and courage to say that they are the parent political party of the Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP)," said Congress spokesperson Anand Sharma.

Comparing the RSS with an octopus, Sharma said: "It has so many affiliate organisations. They claim to be representing India's culture and Hinduism. RSS and Hindutva are political ideologies, not the culture, not the philosophy of Hinduism," said Sharma.

"The majority community of this country has never given RSS or BJP the right to represent the Hindus. This shows their thinking is perverse. Potent mix of religion with politics is what BJP and RSS are doing," he added.

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Sharma further said: "RSS still claims to be a social and cultural organisation. However, no decision is taken in the BJP or in the government without the stamp of RSS. They should stand up and own that they control the political decision-making of the BJP and the policy making."

A Coordination Meeting of the RSS and its affiliates began in Vrindavan on Friday, which BJP President Amit Shah is also attending.