‘Should not lay hands on RSS’: BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai slams Priyank Kharge

DHARWAD: Hubli Central BJP MLA Mahesh Tenginkai on Tuesday slammed IT-BT Minister Priyank Kharge over his demand to restrict the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) activities in government schools and colleges. Tenginkai said that Kharge could not tolerate the Sangh’s centenary celebrations, so he made such remarks.

He said, “Priyank Kharge is making such statements about the Sangh, asking for a ban. There is a good environment as the Sangh completed 100 years. In Hubli, more than 10,000 people attended the centenary event. Sangh’s work is expanding in every village and at a global level. He is not able to tolerate this and is issuing such statements to create unnecessary problems”.

Warning Congress against a ban on RSS’ activities, he added, “The Chief Minister should also think about it…They should not lay hands on the Sangh”. Tenginkai’s remarks come after Chief Minister Siddaramaiah directed the Chief Secretary to review the action taken by the Tamil Nadu government on banning the RSS from conducting its activities in government spaces, after Priyank Kharge wrote a letter urging a similar restriction in Karnataka.

Meanwhile, Priyank Kharge clarified his stance, saying that he has never called for a ban on the organisation. Responding to the question of seeking a ban on the RSS organisation, Kharge said, “Where have I told to ban RSS? They are using government colleges, schools, universities, grounds, and archaeological sites for what? They are poisoning the minds of young children… They are indoctrinating religion into them”.

#WATCH | Bengaluru: On Karnataka CM Siddaramaiah’s instruction to Chief Secretaries to review Tamil Nadu’s move to restrict RSS activities in government places, Karnataka Minister Priyank Kharge says, “We’ll see how it goes. I don’t think this kind of arrangement of RSS should be… pic.twitter.com/6IZg4kar6f

— ANI (@ANI) October 14, 2025

“What I should pray to, what I should eat, and what I should wear, my parents will teach me at home. In schools, they’re supposed to learn. They come here for education so that they can get out of poverty”, he added. Priyank Kharge questioned why the children of BJP leaders do not participate in RSS shakhas or become Gaurakshaks and Dharamrakshaks.

“Why are the BJP leaders’ children not in RSS shakhas? Why are they not becoming Gaurakshaks and Dharamrakshaks? Why are they not drinking Gau Mutra?” he asked. “When we are in the state, government property will not be used to sow seeds of communal hatred”, he added. (ANI)