RSS, not BJP, runs the country, says Rahul in Nagpur

Congress vice president Rahul Gandhi on Monday took a dig at Prime Minister Narendra Modi-led central government, saying that it is the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh which is running the nation and not the Bharatiya Janata Party.

Rahul, while addressing a rally in Nagpur, said, "Look at the whole bureaucracy, nowadays it is not the ministers who are running the nation but it is the RSS appoints OSDs (officers of special duty) in ministries and runs the nation."

"They attack me because they know I will never surrender before the ideology of the RSS and Manu," he added.

Rahul was addressing a rally marking the 125th birth anniversary celebrations of the architect of the Indian Constitution Dr B R Ambedkar later in the day.

The BJP, meanwhile, hit back at Rahul, saying that despite his family's 'campaign' against the Hindutva organisation it has gone from strength to strength.

It also asked him to introspect on the electoral reverses of Congress and why party leaders were leaving the organisation and did not have 'faith' in his leadership.

"The RSS has been attacked for decades by Rahul Gandhi's family. They ran a campaign against it but RSS has only gone from strength to strength. The more he will target it, the more it will grow. Rahul suffers from RSS phobia," said BJP national secretary Shrikant Sharma.