Archive · 15 Aug 2026
Kharge rejects RSS role in protecting Hindus from Razakars
In India, two important men are arguing about something that happened a long time ago.
One man is Priyank Kharge, who takes care of the Karnataka state.
The other man is B L Santhosh, a leader of the BJP party.
Mr. Santhosh said that the RSS, a big organisation, helped save Mr. Kharge's family long ago.
Mr. Kharge said that this is not true.
He said his family and other people were saved by India's Army and by two famous leaders, Jawaharlal Nehru and Sardar Patel.
A dangerous group called the Razakars attacked people during that time, and the Army stopped them.
The two men also disagree about who won India's freedom.
Mr. Kharge says the RSS caused problems, while Mr. Santhosh says the RSS always helped Hindus.
In the end, both men want people to remember history in their own way.
Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge rejected BJP leader B L Santhosh's claim that RSS workers protected his family from Razakars during Hyderabad state's integration with India.
Kharge said his family and the region's people were protected by Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and the Indian Army, and that Operation Polo was carried out by them, not the RSS.
Santhosh, speaking at an 'Akhand Bharat Sankalp Day' programme organised by Hindu Jagarana Vedike, had said Mallikarjun Kharge's family fled to Gulbarga and that RSS workers confronted the Razakars.
Kharge alleged the RSS creates communal riots rather than protecting people, citing Nathuram Godse, a disciple of Savarkar, shooting Mahatma Gandhi, and said Savarkar urged people not to join Subhas Chandra Bose's INA.
Santhosh defended the unregistered RSS as working through the trust of millions, credited freedom to the sacrifices of revolutionaries and soldiers rather than the Salt Satyagraha, and called for resolve to work towards 'Akhand Bharat'.
- Who
- Karnataka Home Minister Priyank Kharge and BJP leader B L Santhosh, with references to Mallikarjun Kharge, Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and the RSS.
- What
- A political dispute over the RSS's role in protecting Hindus from Razakars during Hyderabad state's integration with India and in India's freedom struggle.
- When
- Saturday, as India marked the 80th year of its Independence.
- Where
- Kalaburagi (formerly Gulbarga), Karnataka, India; the exchange also touched on constituencies in Bengaluru.
- Why
- Santhosh claimed RSS workers protected the Kharge family from Razakars; Kharge rejected this, crediting Nehru, Patel and the Indian Army instead.
Priyank Kharge (Congress)
B L Santhosh (BJP)
Who protected Hindus during Hyderabad's integration
Priyank Kharge (Congress)
The RSS did not protect anyone; the people of the region were protected by Nehru, Patel and the Indian Army, and Operation Polo was carried out by them, not the RSS.
B L Santhosh (BJP)
RSS workers confronted the Razakars and protected Hindus during Partition; Kharge's own family had to flee their village, and RSS workers helped.
Nature of India's freedom and unity
Priyank Kharge (Congress)
Around 560 princely states were brought together and India became a nation because of Sardar Patel's firm resolve, not because of the RSS.
B L Santhosh (BJP)
Freedom was secured through the sacrifices of lakhs of patriots and soldiers, not merely through the Salt Satyagraha or spinning the charkha.
RSS and communal violence
Priyank Kharge (Congress)
The RSS creates communal riots rather than protecting people; Nathuram Godse, Savarkar's disciple inspired by RSS ideology, shot Mahatma Gandhi followed by riots in Kolkata and Delhi, and Savarkar urged people not to join the INA.
B L Santhosh (BJP)
The RSS stood by Hindus during Partition and works through the trust of millions of people; its existence is not determined by registration. Hindus should remain a majority because India must remain India.
- Speakers
- Priyank Kharge (Karnataka Home Minister) vs B L Santhosh (BJP leader)
- Context
- Hyderabad state's integration with India; 'Akhand Bharat Sankalp Day' programme organised by Hindu Jagarana Vedike
- Operation Polo
- Indian military operation in September 1948 that led to the integration of the princely state of Hyderabad with India
- Who Kharge credits
- Jawaharlal Nehru, Sardar Patel and the Indian Army
- Princely states integrated
- Around 560, according to Kharge
- RSS registration
- Santhosh: RSS was not registered then and is not registered today
- Commemoration
- Hyderabad Karnataka Liberation Day; 80th year of Independence
- Electoral claim
- Santhosh: no Hindu candidate from any party won Bengaluru's Shivajinagar and Chamarajapet constituencies in two decades