LK Advani defends RSS, lauds its role during freedom struggle

In the backdrop of Rahul Gandhi equating the RSS with banned SIMI, senior BJP leader LK Advani today came to the defence of the saffron outfit lauding its role during the freedom struggle.

"I don't think any institution has influenced our society more than the RSS and Nanaji Deshmukh was one of the key motivators during the freedom struggle and post-Independence who had a great influence on people ", Advani said.

He was speaking after launching a pictorial book on Deshmukh in New Delhi on the occasion of his 94th birth anniversary.

Advani's comments assume significance as it comes just days after Congress general secretary Rahul Gandhi called the RSS "fanatical" and said it was no different from banned terror outfit SIMI and that both hold "fundamentalist" views.

"I know only that both SIMI and the RSS are fanatical and hold fundamentalist views," he had said in Bhopal last week.

Remembering the contributions of the Padma Vibhushan awardee, Advani said Deshmukh had always worked relentlessly for the society and set aside all his political ambitions for the sake of the upliftment of the rural folk.

The former Rajya Sabha member and the veteran RSS ideologue died at the Jankikunj Hospital in Satna, Madhya Pradesh in February this year at the age of 94.