Days after the Karnataka IT/BT minister Priyank Kharge sought a ban on RSS activities at public grounds and other government institutions, he said Tuesday he was bombarded with threat calls aimed at him and his family members. Describing it as an “organised conspiracy” against him, Priyank Kharge said such tactics will not cow him down. In a post on X, the minister said his phone hasn't stopped ringing for the past two days, since his letter to Karnataka Chief Minister Siddaramaiah about banning RSS activities on government premises in the state. "Calls filled with threats, intimidation and the filthiest abuse directed at me and my family, simply because I dared to question and restrain RSS activities in government schools, colleges and public institutions. But I’m neither shaken nor surprised. When the RSS didn’t spare Mahatma Gandhi or Babasaheb Ambedkar, why would they spare me?" he said in the post. "If they think threats and personal jibes will silence me, they are mistaken. This has just begun. It is time to build a society founded on the principles of Buddha, Basavanna and Babasaheb, a society rooted in equality, reason and compassion and purge this nation of the most dangerous viRuSS." For the past two days, my phone hasn’t stopped ringing. Calls filled with threats, intimidation and the filthiest abuse directed at me and my family, simply because I dared to question and restrain RSS activities in government schools, colleges and public institutions. But I’m… — Priyank Kharge / ಪ್ರಿಯಾಂಕ್ ಖರ್ಗೆ (@PriyankKharge) October 14, 2025 Speaking to reporters during the day, he said that such intimidation tactics were natural. "If you recall, when I was in the Opposition, I had filed a couple of complaints over threats issued to me. (Former CM Basavaraj) Bommai was the home minister then. FIRs were registered," he said. Kharge also noted that the police had submitted a report stating that the calls originated from foreign countries, and that, since the IP addresses were masked, they could not be traced. "This time too, the same has happened. Whenever I raise my voice against this system, I have received such calls. I am not afraid," he said, adding that the callers spoke in Hindi or English while threatening him and speaking ill of his family members. In a letter dated October 4, and shared with the media earlier this week, Kharge had urged the Karnataka CM to prohibit RSS activities at public grounds, grounds of government and aided educational institutions, Muzrai temples, and other government land. Siddaramaiah had then directed the chief secretary to look into the issue and cited that a similar prohibition was in place in the neighbouring state of Tamil Nadu.
