MP allows staff to work for RSS, Sonia writes to Kalam

Congress President Sonia Gandhi today wrote to President APJ Abdul Kalam and sought reversal of a Madhya Pradesh government's order allowing its employees to take part in RSS's activities.

In a strongly worded letter to Kalam, she accused RSS of promoting "religious prejudices and passions and polarising the society" and described the order as violative of the letter and spirit of the Constitution. The move, she said, would have "far-reaching implications."

The letter was handed over to the President by a delegation of Congress leaders led by AICC Treasurer Motilal Vora.

Gandhi said, "It is of utmost importance to maintain social cohesion in our diverse society". She said the Gujarat government had passed a similar order in 2000, which was reversed after the intervention of the then President KR Narayanan, following a representation from the Congress.

The BJP, however, stood firmly behind the Madhya Pradesh government.

"The Madhya Pradesh government has carried out this move after a careful thought. There can be a ban on government employees from becoming members of political parties, but so far as RSS is concerned, it is world's largest socio-cultural organisation and there should be no ban on participating in its activities," BJP chief Rajnath Singh told reporters here.