Both RSS,SIMI fanatical: Rahul

When pointed out that the radical Students Islamic Movement of India SIMI was a proscribed outfit,which was not the case with RSS,Rahul said that this did not matter much for him. 8230;both these organisations preach fundamentalist ideologies. Thats a fact and nothing is going to change that fact, he said.

Rahul,who is on a tour of BJP-ruled Madhya Pradesh,said there can be no place in the Youth Congress for people with hardline fundamentalist ideologies.

The BJP was quick to hit back,with party spokesperson Prakash Javadekar saying only a person who has lost his mental balance can equate the RSS with SIMI.

It seems he has lost his mental balance. The RSS is an institution of nationalist thought while SIMI has been banned by their Congress government as it was banned by us when we were in power, said Javadekar. The Congress faced a string of election defeats of late,be it the student union polls or bypolls. The Rahul magic is not working for the Congress. We can understand his frustration. But he has shown political immaturity,ignorance and unruly behaviour.

RSS spokesperson Ram Madhav said such statements may serve cheap political objectives but proved that Rahul was a novice when it comes to understanding Indian society.

He is still new to Indian politics. He should learn Indian society and politics as it emerged in the six decades after Independence. Let him first understand who is who and what is what. Let him show no haste by issuing such meaningless statements, said Madhav.

Sources in the RSS said Rahul had made similar remarks about the outfit yesterday also,but they had decided not to attach much importance to his statements. They said the RSS was forced to respond today since he repeated the allegations at a press conference in Bhopal.