NEW DELHI: Congress leader Digvijaya Singh on Saturday created a stir by praising the organisational strength of the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh -- a group the Congress has long opposed ideologically. Sharing a black-and-white photograph from a social media platform that showed Narendra Modi seated on the ground while
veteran Lal Krishna Advani sat on a chair in the background, Singh acknowledged how the
shapes leadership within the organisation.He pointed to the image as an example of how a grassroots worker from the RSS and Jan Sangh rose to become prime minister of the country.
Posting the picture on X, the former Madhya Pradesh chief minister wrote, "I found this image on the Quora site. It’s very impressive. How an RSS grassroots swayamsevak and Jan Sangh @BJP4India worker sat on the floor at the feet of leaders and became the state’s Chief Minister and the country’s Prime Minister.
This is the power of the organisation."
But later in the day, he issued a clarification, saying, "I support the organisation. I am against the RSS and Modi ji... You have misunderstood... I have praised 'sangathan'. I was, am, and will remain a staunch opponent of the RSS and Modi... Is it a bad thing to strengthen and praise the organisation?..."
Earlier this week, Singh had also praised
for his stance on socio-economic issues, giving him "full marks" while calling for internal reforms within the Congress.
Drawing a parallel with Rahul Gandhi’s push for Election Commission reforms, Singh argued that the party itself needed similar changes.In another post on X, he wrote, "Rahul ji you are absolutely ‘Bang On’ in matters of Socio-Economic Issues. Full Marks. But now please look at Congress also. Like Election Commission needs Reforms, So Does
. You have started with 'संघटन सृजन' But we need more Pragmatic Decentralised Functioning."
He added, "I am sure you would do it because I know you can do it. Only problem is that it is not easy to ‘Convince’ you!!"