.@PriyankKharge’s letter addressed to RSS Chief Shri Mohan Bhagwat Ji is not an exercise in constitutional inquiry.
It is a calculated political provocation: thin on law, thick on presumption, and conspicuously marked by the entitlement of dynastic politics.
For a full century, the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh has served the nation openly, in the full glare of public scrutiny: building character, fostering discipline, strengthening social cohesion, and doing so without seeking state patronage.
Certain Congress leaders, by contrast, have preferred suspect diplomacy - flying to China to sign an MoU with the Chinese Communist Party, shrouded in secrecy and political discomfort.
The contrast could not be starker.
One has operated in Indian sunlight for a hundred years.
The other has repeatedly found comfort in foreign shadows.
Let us address Priyank Kharge’s demands with the precision they lack.
Article 19(1)(c) of the Constitution guarantees every citizen the fundamental right to form associations, unions or co-operative societies. This is not a privilege granted by the State. It is a constitutional freedom.
Article 19(4) permits reasonable restrictions on this freedom only on specified constitutional grounds, and only by authority of law.
Nowhere does the Constitution mandate that every voluntary association must first obtain registration from the State before it can exist or function.
The RSS is precisely such a voluntary association of citizens, united by a shared ideological, cultural and national vision.
It requires no certificate of existence from a minister.
It requires no political permission slip from a dynast.
It requires no registration merely because a Congress leader wishes to manufacture a controversy.
Priyank Kharge’s demand that the RSS must “register” or justify its legal existence is not rooted in constitutional text, statutory obligation or settled principle. It is a whimsical assertion unsupported by law.
In a constitutional democracy governed by the Rule of Law, no individual, however exalted his office, may issue dictates and expect compliance merely because he occupies public office.
Priyank Kharge may be a Minister in the Government of Karnataka. That office confers upon him only those executive powers that law recognises. It does not confer upon him the authority to summon any citizen or organisation and demand that it restructure itself according to his personal fancies.
Such demands, unmoored from any legal mandate, are non est in law.
A dynast indulged by inheritance does not become larger than the Constitution merely because he sits in a ministerial chair.
It was perhaps in anticipation of precisely this species of overreach by those clothed with temporary authority that Thomas Fuller observed: “Be you ever so high, the law is above you.”
Those words were later immortalised by Lord Denning in The Due Process of Law.
The point applies squarely here.
Further, Mr. Kharge’s insistence on disclosure of funding, expenditure, assets and taxation conveniently ignores settled judicial pronouncements.
The question of taxability of Gurudakshina - the voluntary offerings received by the RSS from its members - has already been examined by a constitutional court.
In Commissioner of Income-Tax vs. Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh, the Patna High Court upheld the principle of mutuality and held that Gurudakshina received from members is not taxable.
The RSS has never claimed exemption from the law.
It has simply refused to be bullied into accepting obligations that the law itself does not impose.
For a hundred years, it has functioned openly, published its activities, withstood bans, political hostility and repeated attempts by Congress governments to delegitimise it.
It has done so without taxpayer money. Or foreign funding.
The letter addressed by Junior Kharge in the garb of accountability stems from legal misconception and political malice.
It is unworthy of the constitutional office he holds and of the democratic traditions he claims to defend.
The RSS needs no certificate of good conduct from any dynast, however high his office.
The law remains above all of us.
Kharge junior’s pompous demands lie beneath it.
@Randeep_Sisodia The RSS is legally classified by tax authorities and courts as an unregistered "body of individuals". Its primary source of funding, "Guru Dakshina" (voluntary member donations), is recognized under the legal principle of mutuality (income from self to self).
@Randeep_Sisodia The RSS is legally classified by tax authorities and courts as an unregistered "body of individuals". Its primary source of funding, "Guru Dakshina" (voluntary member donations), is recognized under the legal principle of mutuality (income from self to self).
Only three things he could point out on the basis of which he has built his fictitious. Let me bust them one by one:
1. RSS organisation takes donations:
It is not RSS but RSS affiliated organisations that take donations. And all those organisations/schools/institutions are registered.
2. RSS have security protocols funded by taxpayer:
RSS did not ask for security. It is as per govt’s threat perception that they have been provided security by the govt. RSS did not ask for it. If govt feels RSS chief does not need security they can remove. The govt will be answerable for any untoward incident.
3. RSS has built a huge office:
All the monies are donations from the Swayamsevaks themselves. Not even a single paisa has been received from the govt or from any person outside the RSS for that. Even when Mr. Mohan Bhagwat travels to other cities, he does not stay in hotels but at the houses of RSS members!
It is clear that Kharge junior does not even have a basic understanding of how Sangh functions but has simply issued a notice just out of his sheer hatred for Sangh…
He and Congress will be defeated in court, yet again!
It's amazing how some people write long arguments without doing a 30-second Google search. Seva Bharati, Sewa International and several other service organizations associated with the RSS are registered bodies that accept donations and publicly disclose their activities.
#RSS100
Dear Shri Mohan Bhagwat ji,
My letter will reach you shortly. However, I thought it was important to draw your attention to this matter early.
——————————-
Firstly, congratulations to the RSS on completing 100 years.
An organisation that claims over 60,000 shakhas and crores of swayamsevaks must also uphold transparency and constitutional accountability.
As per RSS’ highest and most important decision making body Akhil Bharatiya Pratinidhi Sabha’s 2025–26 Karnataka report, the RSS has 4,127 daily shakhas, 1,389 weekly milans, 60 monthly mandalis, 2,194 Samajotsavas with 19.61 lakh participants and held 562 route marches with 2.21 lakh uniformed participants in the state.
With such scale and influence, the RSS must clarify its legal status, registration, office bearers, funding, expenditure, taxation and permissions for public activities.
If citizens, labour, NGOs, trusts, temples and companies are expected to register, disclose and comply with the law, why should the RSS remain exempt?
In its centenary year, the RSS must responsibly abide by the Constitution and register, disclose, pay applicable taxes and function transparently within the Constitution.
As suggested in my letter, I am looking forward to hearing from @RSSorg soon.
@DrMohanBhagwat@RSSorg
#NoidaInternationalAirport kickstarted its commercial operations with the first flight arriving at the airport from Lucknow.
Among the passengers on board the first incoming flight were a couple with their three-year-old daughter, who are residents of Navi Mumbai.
@Lolita_TNIE #IndiGo @jewar_airport
Sorry sir that they didnt attend an event of your partner jamaat e islami who advocates for Islamic state. In future plz dont meet our hon PM who follows the same ideology as the RSS Chief. If need be u should also apologize to Ms for meeting the PM to save ur secular credentials
TNIE EXCLUSIVE: Five visually impaired flyers to the US denied brding by @cathaypacific@BLRAirport. Excess lugg fee of 1.12 lakh but link shared didn't work, say flyers. Airline says psgrs couldn't pay b4 flgt. Flyers allege #discrimination due 2 disability @DGCAIndia@xpresstn
TNIE EXCLUSIVE: Scandinavian Airlines stops ticket sale from Copenhagan to Mumbai till June 16. Sources @DGCAIndia said operational authorisation was denied due to incomplete docs & no clarity on ownership. @SAS assumed they could somehow get into India @NewIndianXpress@xpresstn
Indian markets may be being derated because of AI, because it has historically traded at much higher valuations compared to peer markets.Because of trump and AI that valuation premium is being eroded
Abhishek Banerjee claimed that "even ten lifetimes" would not be enough for Amit Shah and the BJP to make a dent in his Diamond Harbour model.
Amit Shah dismantled his party, split it into three factions, arrested TMCs goons and leaders, and ensured that the BJP candidate won in Diamond Harbour, all within a single month.
And through all this devastation, Amit Shah has still not uttered a single word.
The man has reached this position after dealing with everything the Italian madam had thrown against him from CBI, jail, integorrations, threats, bans.
Congis can continue dreaming...
From last year’s press meet for ODI squad selection , when Ajit Agarkar selected an ODI squad with three wicketkeepers and was asked why Sanju Samson wasn’t included, he claimed that Sanju is only a top-order batter
This proves that the national selector doesn’t seem to have much idea about Sanju Samson’s ODI record in other batting positions, where he has thrived in every batting positions whenever he has been given opportunities
Today, according to reports, Virat Kohli is unavailable for the upcoming ODI series. As per Agarkar’s own statement, Sanju Samson should have been picked as a top-order replacement, right? But no Sanju isn’t even in contention
What’s even more baffling is that Sanju Samson is the last Indian batter other than Virat Kohli to score an ODI century at No. 3. By Agarkar’s own logic, he should have been the automatic choice right🤷
Why does nobody, especially the prominent cricket journalists, question these contradictions? Agarkar repeatedly makes statements against Sanju that don’t align with the selections that follow, yet he rarely faces any scrutiny for them.