- 7 weeks ago
In this special report, a speaker identified as a senior Congress leader discusses the organizational strength of the RSS and BJP. The speaker states, 'I am a supporter of the organization,' while maintaining opposition to their ideology. The discussion explores the internal dynamics of the Congress party, the need for organizational reforms, and the reactions to these remarks. The report also touches upon the leadership challenges and the contrast between different political party structures.
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00:00Diggy's Dig leaves Congress in Dilemma Amit CWC meet Kongneta's Curious Stake
00:22Post Prime Minister's picture heaps praise on RSS BJP
00:27I am the leader of Sangatana, RSS and Modi ji I am the leader of the RSS and Modi ji
00:32You have the wrong idea that I have the leader of Sangatana
00:36I am the leader of the RSS and Modi ji
00:45After Tharoor, Digvijay questions Rahul
00:52Kong losing faith in Rahul's leadership, top focus on India today
00:57Very good evening and thank you for tuning in
01:02I am Suesha Samanth and yes, Senior Congress Leader and Rajasabha MP Digvijay Singh
01:06who has triggered a fresh political controversy with an unexpected praise for the BJP and the RSS
01:13Sharing an old image of Prime Minister Narendra Modi on X, Digvijay Singh highlighted the organizational strength of the RSS and BJP
01:22After mega controversy, Digvijay Singh clarified that he just praised the organization
01:27and he continues to oppose Modi and the RSS
01:31Here's a detailed report on what happened
01:33Another Senior Congress Leader questions Rahul's leadership
01:40Former Chief Minister of Madhya Pradesh and current Congress MP Digvijay Singh
01:44stirred up fresh political controversy on Platform X
01:49Sharing a black and white photo of Prime Minister Narendra Modi from 1996
01:53and praising the organizational strength of the BJP and the RSS
01:58He highlighted how a grassroot-level worker who once sat on the floor
02:05could grow within the RSS BJP organization and become the Chief Minister and then the Prime Minister
02:13Not only this, he even tagged Gandhis and Karge in the post
02:17indicated that he wanted to send a message directly to the High Command
02:21Amiram Megha Rao, Digvijay Singh clarified that he only intended to praise the organization
02:28I am the leader of Sangatana, the RSS and Bodhi Ji
02:32I am the leader of the RSS and Bodhi Ji
02:33You have understood the wrong thing, I have approved Sangatana
02:37If you see my tenure as a PCC president, I have functioned only through a decentralized manner
02:46But that's not all
02:48A week earlier he sought organizational reforms within the Congress
02:51and took a swipe at Rahul Gandhi
02:53while urging for a more pragmatic decentralized functioning
02:57Digvijay added that it was not easy to convince Rahul
03:00A post that's now pinned on his profile
03:03The BJP was quick to pounce on Digvijay Singh's post
03:07and took pot shots at Rahul Gandhi
03:10Congress is fundamentally a leader-based power-oriented party
03:19We are a cadre-based ideology-oriented party
03:24In the same way, Congress continues to say that the Grand Old Tati's organizational structure remains strong as always
03:38Congress MP Shashi Toror also made headlines for skipping Congress meetings
03:42Earlier, Congress MP Shashi Tharoor also made headlines for skipping Congress meetings
04:07and praising Prime Minister Narendra Modi repeatedly.
04:10Does the Congress then need to reassess Rahul Gandhi's leadership?
04:15Or is the dissent merely background noise?
04:19Digvijaya's force came right before the CWC meeting.
04:23And with this, the murmurs in the Congress are growing louder
04:27that having lost the momentum it gained in 2024,
04:32the party needs an organizational boost and revamp to be battle-ready for a challenging 2026.
04:41And in the latest coming in, Digvijaya Singh has defended his praise for the RSS.
04:56He said that he continues to remain opposed to the ideology of RSS but admires their organizational skills.
05:04In fact, while he did that in the post, he also put out a picture that was doing the rounds on the internet
05:12which had LK Advani sitting on the chair.
05:14Narendra Modi was sitting below LK Advani and that very picture where he indicated
05:20that decentralization is extremely important for a grassroots worker
05:24to rise up to the ranks of Chief Minister and then Prime Minister
05:28is why he admires the RSS and Narendra Modi
05:33but he still opposes the ideology is what he has claimed.
05:37Listen in to that statement.
05:38.
05:55It is not the power of your country, it has become the power of your country, that the
06:01government of the country says that this is the biggest NGO.
06:07Where is the NGO? Where are your rules and rules?
06:12But I would like to ask you to ask them.
06:18Cutting across to my colleague Rahul Ghatub now joining us on the broadcast.
06:22As far as Digvijay Singh is concerned, he is very clear, especially in the latest statement
06:27that he has made, that he is not vying for the ideology.
06:30He still opposes that when it comes to the RSS or Narendra Modi.
06:34But he is purely vying for organizational reforms within the Congress.
06:39And what is so wrong with that?
06:42Well absolutely, this was the sort of a clarification that was moved in by Mr. Digvijay Singh
06:48after the CWC meet was concluded.
06:51When we asked him, you know, about his tweet, which he said that I have not praised RSS or BJP.
06:57In fact, I have only praised the power of any organization that can actually take me, you know,
07:04from the very grassroots all the way to the highest of the country.
07:08And in fact, he also went on to say that there is a decentralization exercise that needs to be conducted in the Congress party,
07:18clearly suggesting that there is concentration of power happening in the national capital.
07:23Now, you know, many people are deriving many meanings out of the tweets that were put out by Digvijay Singh.
07:30Is he suggesting that Mr. KC Ben Gopal, who is the General Secretary of the Organization,
07:36that he is not living up to the expectations of organizational strengthening work?
07:42Or he was suggesting or whether, you know, because if you go through the tweet that he made on 19th of December,
07:51in which he said that it's extremely difficult for anyone to convince Rahul Gandhi.
07:56So, is he suggesting that Rahul Gandhi is a rigid person?
07:59So, all these are questions that will obviously be answered by Mr. Digvijay Singh in the due course of time.
08:05But one thing is very important that it seems that this is not the first, you know, voices that are coming to the fore.
08:13We have seen earlier also, Sashi Tharoor, there are many more who have already left the party,
08:17who have said that all is not well within the organization.
08:20Now, we have to really wait and watch how the High Command is going to intervene
08:24and going to take Digvijay Singh on board, how the grievances of Mr. Digvijay Singh are going to be addressed,
08:31because all this, he is a very seasoned politician, a very senior, a leader of Congress party,
08:37Dean Chief Minister twice, his incumbent Rajya Sabha member.
08:41So, obviously, if he is suggesting something or if he is making, you know, any remark pertaining to the organization structuring or functioning,
08:50obviously, it would have power-leasing implications as far as Congress is concerned.
08:54Absolutely, Rahul. It's high time. The Congress leadership does that.
08:57We'll continue to ask all these questions, also get the point of view off our guest.
09:00Joining us this evening as I'd like to introduce Sanju Varma, National Spokesperson of the BJP,
09:06Nikhil Jain, who is a political analyst, and Professor Badri Narayan, columnist and political analyst,
09:11joining us on the broadcast. Very good evening to all our guests.
09:14Nikhil Jain, I want to come to you first to understand why is the Congress getting riled up?
09:19Firstly, Digvijay Singh has shown them the mirror, and this is not the first time that a senior leader has done that.
09:24Several leaders in the past have been doing that, especially in the last five years.
09:28Fact remains that the Congress has failed to build a merit-driven structure in a bid to push the Gandhis, especially Rahul Gandhi's leadership.
09:39So, respectfully, I quite disagree with that.
09:41The Congress party is one of those parties that has actually promoted quite a lot of people who don't come from any political background,
09:46whether it is at the state level, whether it is at the national level.
09:48The problem is that Congress right now, because they're not in power, they're facing this conundrum of doomed if they do, doomed if they don't.
09:56When they move forward, somebody like a Jignesh Mivani or a Kanaiya Kumar questions are raised and said that why are inexperienced people being promoted?
10:03When they push forward somebody like a Jyotra Dutta Sindhya or a Milind Diora in the past, then it's called a party of dynast.
10:12When you get the experienced people, then there is a problem.
10:14When you get people with a political background, then there is a problem.
10:17When you get people without political background, then there is a problem.
10:19When you get brand new people, even then there is a problem.
10:22Now, I don't really think that these are problems that the Congress party has.
10:25Certainly, I'm not saying that the organization of the Congress party is perfect.
10:28It does need reform. I do agree with Digvijay Singh.
10:31I do agree with the need to decentralize the power structures within the Congress party so that the party can move with a better form of ground contact.
10:40But let's not forget that the Congress party is not alone in this.
10:43Pretty much every political party in the country operates with a very centralized model and even the BJP.
10:48Where the BJP benefits over other political parties, including the Congress, is the fact that the BJP has something like an RSS,
10:55which is a very ground connected, very grassroot level organization whose feedback the BJP can use to mount their political campaigns.
11:02And I think Congress party is making a step in the right direction with their Sangatthana Shurja Navyaan,
11:06wherein they are revamping their district chiefs and they are making sure that people, at the ground level at least,
11:13are connected to the ideology and are not just in it for the power.
11:17Okay, two points you have made. The first one, in fact, I have an answer to it, but I also want to give our other guests a chance to speak.
11:23I'll come back to that. But the second point you made, so basically you are admiring the BJP's model.
11:28I want to take this to Sanju Barma also to understand that while so far it has worked well and understandably so,
11:35the Congress has been going wrong for decades as far as these sort of organizational reforms is concerned,
11:40especially when it comes to very senior, talented leaders within the Congress.
11:44But what about the BJP that has majorly been harping on the success of Narendra Modi when it comes to electoral gains all these years and questions when you have to face on second line leadership?
11:58How do you respond to that?
12:01You know, Svesha, there's this famous Hindi saying, first and foremost, am I clearly audible?
12:06Because there seems to be a glitch. Okay. You know, there's this famous Hindi saying,
12:13So first and foremost, the Congress needs to wipe the dust off the mirror and look at the mirror fair and square.
12:23And what does the mirror tell you back? It says that Rahul Gandhi is a leader who under his belt has to his credit or should I say discredit 95 electoral losses.
12:34And guess what? He still continues to be the Congress's best bet.
12:38And they keep talking about him as a prime ministerial aspirant.
12:41Barring the buzz in the last few days when Robert Wadra came out openly in support of Priyanka Gandhi Wadra and Imran Masood was saying Priyanka Wadra would make for a wonderful prime minister.
12:52The top job is, you know, there with Prime Minister Narendra Modi.
12:56Narendra Modi, there's no vacancy. Narendra Modi ji ki kursi ke liye koi vacancy nahi hai.
13:00But the moot point is this. I think as J.P. Nadda ji has rightly said on umpteen occasions,
13:06the problem with the Congress party is no ideology, no common minimum program, no electoral connect.
13:18You tell me, Sueisha, just before the Bihar campaign started, Rahul Gandhi was in Malaysia.
13:25In the middle of the Bihar campaign on the 26th of September 2025, Rahul Gandhi jets off to Peru, Brazil and Colombia.
13:33And then after a humiliating defeat in Bihar, lo behold, instead of standing shoulder to shoulder with his party workers, Rahul Gandhi decides to go vacationing in Muscat.
13:44So the limited point is politics today is not about, you know, armchair politics.
13:51You can't be an armchair politician. You have to be a politician who's willing to burn the midnight oil and willing to be there 24-7, 365 days.
14:01Look at Narendra Modi. Look at Amit Shah. They walk, talk, breathe politics.
14:06You know, when you talk of the Modi juggernaut, very quickly in 10 seconds.
14:09Yes, we were talking about 400 par and we were limited to 240 seats.
14:14But thereafter, after June 2024, Lok Sabha elections, Sueisha, assembly elections were held in six states.
14:21BJP won four out of six states with a strike rate of 67%.
14:26The other two states, Jharkhand was won by JMM and Kashmir, Jammu Kashmir was won by Omar Abdullah's national conference.
14:34Right. Congress's strike rate is zero.
14:37But Rahul Gandhi continues to be the best thing after brown bread.
14:41Right. Right. Okay. Sanju Verma, I take your point there.
14:44But fact also remains that even the BJP needs to think on the road forward,
14:48especially when you're pointing fingers at the Congress with regards to this particular issue.
14:53But I want to bring in Professor Badri Narayan at the moment.
14:56The posts happened and the Congress went all out.
15:00In fact, there was speculation that whether this is an ideological slip.
15:04Dig Vijay Singh clarified, saying that it is not that. He is very clear.
15:09It is time for an organizational reform in the Congress and that is all that he is referring to.
15:14He has even pinned that tweet. All sorts of ways and manners in which this tweet was read into.
15:20But he is putting out a clear signal to the Congress. How do you read into it?
15:24Yes, I think as far as we know, Dig Vijay Singh is a harsh critic of the RSS for a longer time.
15:33But he always in that process keeps a close look of the RSS.
15:36And now he understands the power of the RSS.
15:41And I think every Congress should understand the strength of the RSS.
15:45Because RSS, if you see the history of the organization of the world,
15:48you can't find any organization like RSS anywhere in the world.
15:52It's horizontal. It's vertical. It's all pervasive.
15:57And their cadres work like day and night, like a sense.
16:00Because they are missionaries.
16:02So they don't have that kind of, today will be achieved and tomorrow will not achieve.
16:06Because they are not achieving that. They always work.
16:09So it's a long endure, their processes, working with the society.
16:13And the way they prepare the Vyakti Nirmand is the base of the society, the organizational nirmand.
16:19So Congress and other parties in India, they focus on the organization.
16:23But they don't focus on the individuals.
16:25So RSS works on the individual, prepare the individual like Narendra Modi, like many leaders.
16:31And then they also work to prepare an organization.
16:35So individual is in the place of the organization.
16:38And then emotional connect and inspiration and the sacrifice for the society.
16:44And you know, one of the, I remember one of the very big RSS card leader,
16:50leader is not the right word, Prasharak, he used to say,
16:53that we will want to live in the society like sugar lives in the milk.
17:00So sugar in the milk. So they don't want to be very visible.
17:04You must be knowing that before these five, six years,
17:07they were not even coming in the newspapers, in the news headlines.
17:11But now because power came in the media, it gave emphasis on them.
17:16They are not interested in that.
17:18So they are very much interested in day and night work in the society.
17:23They always want to work for the society for the reconstruction.
17:31And that is their strength. And so I think, and you know, they are very good in organizing people.
17:38Once Prasharak goes, it will put that Prasharak in a way.
17:42Right. And that is exactly what Digvijay Singh is referring to.
17:46Decentralization. Nikhil, I want to come to you.
17:49Two things. I myself asked the BJP saying that they are also largely banking on the success of their leader, Narendra Modi.
17:57But you can't compare apples and oranges if you're trying to say Rahul Gandhi.
18:02Back to back failures.
18:04How can the Congress go on banking on the same leader despite the performance rate?
18:09Secondly, you took the name of Milind Diora, Jyotira Ditya Sindhya, Sachin Pilot.
18:14Fact is that the Congress has been at a loss of talent because of this very manner that they don't want to change
18:22when it has to be about giving the others an opportunity.
18:26Senior leaders Kapil Sibbal, Digvijay Singh, Jyotira Ditya Sindhya was lost again.
18:33Galan Nabi Azad who have spoken up, who voiced that it is time for change.
18:37But their voices have always gone unheard and that has led to the Congress to where it is.
18:42Fact is senior leaders have not been given their due and even when it comes to fresher talent,
18:48you're talking about dynasty politics.
18:50But have they ever been allowed to move over than Rahul Gandhi?
18:55No.
18:56Nikhil?
18:57All right.
18:58Not sure if the line is still intact.
18:59Am I audible?
19:00Yes, now you are Nikhil.
19:01If you've heard my question, please answer.
19:02I'm so sorry.
19:03Yes, yes, yes.
19:04I did hear your question.
19:05So, first of all, to blame and pin the entire blame on Rahul Gandhi, I think that is quite
19:09unfair to the individual because
19:24let's not forget that between 2014-17, Rahul Gandhi was the vice president of the party and
19:30not the president.
19:31He was only the president of the party between 2017-2019.
19:33After that, it has either been Sonia Gandhi or Malik Arjun Kargay who's been the president
19:36of the party.
19:37Party. Secondly, I'll tell you an interesting statue of yours, and viewers can go and check
19:41that. During the period when Rahul Gandhi was the president of the Congress Party, 18
19:45state elections happened in the country. Five of them were won by the Congress, five of
19:48them were won by the BJP. Now, I'm not saying that the Congress's organization under Rahul
19:53Gandhi was as good as the organization of the BJP under Modi. I'm very cognizant of
19:57the fact that the BJP's electoral machinery is miles and miles, perhaps light years ahead
20:01of the Congress. But that is the entire point, that we should be comparing apples to apples.
20:06When you compare the organization of the Congress, you must compare the organization of the
20:10Congress with the organization of the BJP, the funds, the resources. Let's not forget
20:14that the Congress Party has 133 crores in its bank accounts, while the BJP has over 10,000
20:18crores. The BJP, whether it is electoral bronze or the electoral trusts after that, the BJP
20:22receives over 85% of the political donations that are given to all political parties in
20:26this country. The BJP has the support, unfettered support, from a slew of other agencies. And
20:31of course, when you're in power, there is too much that you can give to your workers, to
20:35your supporters, to your carders, to your funders, which the Congress cannot do. And lastly,
20:40and lastly, lastly, lastly, Rahul Gandhi is the one who is giving the ideological light to the
20:46party. He is not the one with the day-to-day affairs of the organization. That is KC Venugopal
20:51and Malik Arjun Kharge. Let's not forget. Okay. Okay. Let's, let's bring in Sanju
20:55Verma. Over to you. You know, I will say yes, resources do matter, but resources can never be a
21:03substitute for effective leadership. I'll tell you something, Sueisha. Do you remember before
21:08Hardik Patel left the Congress and joined the BJP, when asked, what was the inflection point? He said,
21:14Congress party may 300 km. Chalcar. Koi Rahul Gandhi ke liye yadi chicken sandwich lye kar
21:21a jaye. Toh ushe Congress party may promotion milegi. Par zameeni tor par joh kaam karte hai,
21:26kar kar karta unke hard work ke liye koi recognition nahi hai. Now, let me tell you something.
21:31Shaqeel Ahmed has been a very senior leader from the Congress party in Bihar. He resigned recently
21:37saying that in the Congress party, there is a coterie. You know, the others don't even have
21:42access to Rahul Gandhi or Sonia Gandhi. What did Kumari Sereja say? Though she still is in the
21:47Congress party, she said Dalits in Haryana were systematically marginalized. And the same
21:52Rahul Gandhi who talks about the downtrodden and Dalits and tribals did not even give Kumari Sereja
21:58a decent hearing. And let me tell you one thing. From 1998 till 2022, barring a few years when Rahul
22:06Gandhi took charge, it was Sonia Gandhi who was the high command in the Congress party. Even
22:13now, though Malik Arjun Khadge became the Congress president in 2022, when asked about the problems
22:20in Karnataka Congress with Siddhar Ramayya and DK Shiv Kumar at loggerheads with each other,
22:24he said, Mere haat mein toh kuch nahi hai, Congress high command tae karegi, matlab Sonia Gandhi
22:30or Rahul Gandhi, jho decide karenge, wahi sahi ho ga. So this high command culture is the undoing
22:36of the Congress party. And I'm appalled that they refuse to wake up and smell the coffee.
22:41My final point is this. Yes, there are dissents, there are problems in every party. But when
22:48Vijay Rupani replaced Anandi Ben Patel in Gujarat as the chief minister or for that matter, when
22:54the late Vijay Rupani was replaced by the current CM, Bhupendra Bhai Patel, many people had not
23:00even heard the name of Bhupendra Bhai Patel. And yet, you know, the entire…
23:04Okay, okay. Sanju Verma, I'm very short on time. I do agree with your point, Nikhil
23:09Jain. Fact does remain that the Congress has always given precedence to loyalty over merit
23:14and that is a charge that has been fired by their own leaders time and again, senior
23:19and junior. So you can't really get away from it.
23:21After they have left the party.
23:22Okay, quickly make your point. I need to take this to Professor Badri Naira and then we
23:25need to close.
23:26Suresha, first of all, whatever any politician says about a particular party after he leaves
23:30the political party and very often jumps to the other ship, I don't think that's
23:33given any credence. Everybody has to justify to the people and their voters that this is
23:38why they left. Nobody is going to say I left because there was a needy raid on me or because
23:41I wanted a judgment of a palace in my favor or because I wanted a bungalow in Latians or
23:46because I was being given 100 crores. Let's not be dense. We all know why politicians jump
23:50ship. Many from the Congress have jumped ship for a number of reasons and all of them have
23:54had the same story that Rahul Gandhi isn't giving me time and access. This is the same Rahul Gandhi
23:58who's giving time and access to the most ordinary people and has made political leaders out
24:03of them, whether it is Kanaiya Kumar, Jignesh Mavani or to an extent, Hardik Patel himself.
24:07But when Hardik Patel had a slew of cases on him and he wanted more than the Congress
24:11could offer him, not being in government, he jumped ship. So let's not really go into that.
24:15And lastly, on the presidency question, the BJP decides presidents and chief ministers by
24:22a Parchi system. This is nothing to be proud of that we made somebody a chief minister.
24:26Nikhil, I'm really sorry. I'm short on time. And to Sanju Verma, see BJP has also been in
24:31a position several times where you have accepted leaders who have been rejected on the basis of
24:36votes. You have accepted leaders with a tainted image. You have highlighted their past reputation
24:41which has been tainted and then you have accepted those leaders. But I'm sorry, I'm very short on time.
24:46I want to take this to Professor Badri Narayan, sir. I want to ask you, how much do dynasty politics
24:51and centralized decision making impact merit and leadership politics? Because at the moment
24:57it certainly seems like Congress is paying a higher political cost than any other party.
25:02So, you are very right. Actually, this dynasty politics closed the doors for the others,
25:08for the commoners. And because of that party lacks, the cadre lacks inspirations and commitment.
25:14Right.
25:15But they don't see future in that. And this is about the party. You see that the same happening
25:19is happening with the BSP, the same is happening with the Samajwani Party, with the RJD.
25:24So BJP in that way is trying to evolve the kind of democratic setup in which every cadre is seeing its future.
25:31First thing. Second is, you know, 1925 RSS was formed and the CPI also formed on the same time.
25:38And today you see where are the CPI on the left and where is RSS or the ideology.
25:45So, not only Digvijay Singh. Digvijay Singh is a symptom or a kind of metaphor. Everyone should understand the commitment and experience
25:52Right.
25:53Which they create in the society.
25:55So, one thing is very clear, sir, that if we just take Digvijay Singh's comment at face value. Sanju Wanma, I'm really sorry.
26:02I know you want to make a point. I'm very short on time. I'm being asked to wrap this.
26:06But one thing is clear, he's asking for organizational reforms in the Congress, not a wrong demand, not a new demand, not a demand that has not been made by other senior leaders of the Congress.
26:16Will the Congress finally take cognizance or stick to the Gandhi loyalty is something we'll keep tracking.
26:23I want to thank all of you for joining us this evening. Time for us to wrap this debate.
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