'I fight RSS, CPM ideologically': Rahul Gandhi's remark triggers rift within INDIA bloc

The comments, made in Kerala, a state where the CPI(M) holds power and continues a longstanding ideological battle with the RSS, sparked swift and sharp reactions from the Left.

Congress leader Rahul Gandhi's recent remarks equating the RSS and the CPI(M) is causing growing unease within the INDIA bloc, with Left leaders raising the issue during the alliance's virtual meeting on Saturday, according to sources.

The comments, made by the Congress leader at an event in Kerala, were flagged as inappropriate and potentially divisive by leaders of the Left parties, who warned that such statements could send the wrong message to cadres on the ground.

The growing unease will not auger well at a time when the INDIA grouping-- in a renewed bid is hoping to revive opposition unity after recent internal rifts, top leaders of the INDIA bloc met virtually on Saturday evening and demanded that Prime Minister Narendra Modi personally address the nation on critical security lapses and foreign policy developments — including the Pahalgam terror attack, Operation Sindoor, and claims by former US President Donald Trump that America brokered a ceasefire on May 10.

On July 18, the Leader of Opposition in Lok Sabha triggered a political row in Kerala after equating the CPI(M) and the RSS in his speech at a memorial event in Puthuppally, Kottayam, on Friday, July 18. Addressing the gathering on the second death anniversary of former Kerala chief minister Oommen Chandy, Rahul Gandhi said that both the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and the Communist Party of India (Marxist) lacked “feelings” for the people.

“I fight the RSS and CPI(M) ideologically,” said the Leader of the Opposition in the Lok Sabha. “But my biggest complaint is that they do not have feelings for the people. If you are in politics, you must feel what people are thinking, listen to them, touch them. The real tragedy in Indian politics today is that very few people are actually feeling what others are feeling.”

The comments, made in Kerala, a state where the CPI(M) holds power and continues a longstanding ideological battle with the RSS, sparked swift and sharp reactions from the Left.

CPI(M) Politburo member MA Baby, in a strongly worded video statement, said Rahul Gandhi's comparison betrayed a fundamental misunderstanding of the CPI(M)’s role in Indian and Kerala politics. “The statement is unfortunate,” he said. “Especially in Kerala, where CPI(M) has lost over 100 young comrades fighting the RSS. Equating the two is not only incorrect but deeply insulting to those who laid down their lives.

Escalating the matter further, CPI(M) Rajya Sabha MP John Brittas accused the Congress in Kerala of keeping Rahul Gandhi “politically naive.” In a veiled jab at the Gandhi siblings’ electoral strategy, Brittas said, “They chose Kerala, especially Wayanad, essentially a safe zone, courtesy of their ally IUML, to stage their so-called full-frontal attack on the RSS. No risks, all gain.”

Brittas also invoked the Congress’s past decisions that, in his view, strengthened the RSS. “We’ll resist the temptation to remind Rahul Gandhi on the day of the INDIA bloc meeting how the Congress played a role in empowering the RSS—from unlocking the Babri Masjid gates to presiding over its demolition,” he said. “Ironically, much of what he knows about the RSS may well have come from our late leader Sitaram Yechury.”