In remarks that may trigger a controversy, Congress leader Rahul Gandhi has said he felt there was not much difference between the banned Students Islamic Movement of India and the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh as both were "fanatical" and held fundamentalist" views.
When a reporter told him he had made a controversial statement equating the two groups in Tikamgarh on Tuesday, the young member of Parliament said he failed to see any controversy in it.
When pointed out that the radical SIMI was a proscribed outfit, which was not the case with the Nagpur-headquartered right-wing group, Gandhi stated that this did not matter much for him.
"I know only that both SIMI and the RSS were fanatical and held fundamentalist views," he asserted.
There can be no place for people with fanatical views in the Youth Congress, said Gandhi, who is in charge of youth wings in the Congress.
The Congress leader is on a tour of Bharatiya Janata Party-ruled Madhya Pradesh.