NEW DELHI: The “most troubling” element of PM Modi’s speech was his “name-checking of RSS”, Congress said Friday, terming it “a blatant breach of the spirit of a constitutional, secular Republic”.Describing the speech as “stale, hypocritical and insipid”, Congress’ Jairam Ramesh said, “It’s nothing but a desperate attempt to appease the organisation in the run-up to his 75th birthday next month. Decisively weakened after the events of June 4, 2024 (LS poll result), he is now at their complete mercy and reliant on (RSS chief) Mohan Bhagwat’s good offices for extension of his tenure post-Sept.””Politicisation of Independence Day for personal and organisational gain is deeply corrosive to our democratic ethos. The PM was tired today. Soon he’ll be retired,” he said.While CPM general secretary MA Baby said it is “deeply regrettable” that the PM chose to praise RSS, an organisation with a “dubious historical record”, TMC accused Modi of using his speech to target a “new enemy”, this time in the form of “infiltrators”.Sena (UBT) neta Sanjay Raut said Modi has become “a real Congressman” by endorsing ‘swadeshi’, as it was Congress which first promoted indigenous manufacturing.
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