Congress President Rahul Gandhi in a panel at International Institute for Strategic Studies in London. (PTI ph... Read More

LONDON: In a comparison likely to kick up fresh controversy and further fuel the row between Congress and BJP over Rahul Gandhi 's remarks on his foreign tour, the Congress chief on Friday compared RSS to radical Islamist organisation Muslim Brotherhood , and said the Sangh "wanted to change the nature of India".

In a public engagement at the well-known London think tank International Institute of Strategic Studies, Rahul said, "There is no other organisation in India that wants to attack and capture India's institutions. It (RSS) is similar to the Muslim Brotherhood in the Arab world."

Rahul said RSS wanted one ideology to run through all institutions by crushing other people's ideas. "Institutions are being torn down one by one. They are trying to destroy the modern idea of India," he said. A couple of days earlier, in Germany, his comments that lynchings in India were a result of joblessness due to demonetisation and GST and that exclusion led to the growth of the Islamic State had seen BJP saying his comments were completely misplaced and belittled India.

In London, hitting out at PM Narendra Modi 's foreign policy, Rahul said what was seen was "knee-jerk reactions" rather than a coherent strategy based on India's strengths.

In an apparent reference to the controversy over hugging Modi during the Lok Sabha no-confidence vote, Rahul juxtaposed it with the PM's "hugplomacy" with world leaders and said, "I have been trapped in the hug politics but I don't think you can have a foreign policy based on hugs."

Attacking the government for the stand-off between India and China in Doklam last year, Rahul made a bold claim that the crisis would not have happened if he was PM. "Doklam was a crisis that happened because the government views things from an event perspective. In my view, Doklam was a point in a process and I am confident that under me it would not have happened," the Congress chief said. "The truth is, they (Chinese troops) are still there," he added.

Accusing Modi of centralising all power within PMO, he said, "Look at the foreign minister of India, Sushma Swaraj. She has nothing better to do than get people visas because there is a monopoly of power by the Prime Minister's Office on the MEA."

He said BJP was "ignoring the maths" when it was claiming that it would win the 2019 Lok Sabha polls. "If there is an alliance in UP and Bihar, BJP will not win," he said.

Later, at an event at the House of Commons, Rahul said a formidable alliance was being built against the ruling dispensation which was "crushing conversation". Addressing MPs and business leaders, he said, "The line is very clear in India. There is hate-filled ideology of RSS on one side and all the opposition on the other side. You will feel and hear the weight of the combined opposition in the coming state and national elections."

When asked about Operation Blue Star at the House of Commons event, he said, "It was a tragedy and a painful experience. I don't agree the Congress party was involved."

Seeking to clarify his remarks in Germany that exclusivist politics could breed insurgencies such as IS, he said, "BJP attacks everything I say, it is just their default position. We have to give a vision to our people, if we don't someone else will. So it's important we involve people and carry them and they feel they are part of nation-building."

Addressing a gathering of overseas Indians in Berlin on Thursday, Rahul said India had been talking of unity in diversity from the times of Guru Nanak. "Our strength is listening to everyone, even the weakest, the poorest. Every Indian religion talks about helping the last man in the line," he said.

The Congress chief cited the langar (community kitchen) concept in Sikhism, which follows the philosophy that no one should go hungry, no matter how weak or poor. "The work Guru Nanak used to do, we work on the same philosophy," he said.

