NAGPUR:

, president of BRP-BMS and grandson of Dr BR Ambedkar, made it clear on Saturday that there would be no alliance with Congress unless it gave a written assurance of disciplining RSS after coming to power.

Addressing a press conference, Ambedkar said, “RSS does not respect the Constitution. It does not respect the national flag. It believes in genocide of non-Hindus if they refuse to follow Vedic religion. How can such an organization be allowed to carry out its unconstitutional activities? Congress has failed to take effective steps to discipline it in the 60 years it ruled the nation.” He, however, said that he was not in favour of an outright ban on RSS.

Ambedkar said that no talks had been held with Congress on seat sharing as the ideological issues were yet to be sorted out. “At present we are ready to contest from all 48 Lok Sabha seats of Maharashtra. However, we would like to tie up with a Gandhian party,” he added.

The Dalit leader further said that at present there was a system of parallel government in the country. “One is headed by the President of India and another headed by the RSS sarsanghchalak. Prime Minister Narendra Modi is running the country on directives of RSS,” he added.

Replying to a query, he said, “We have filed a case in

court against shastrapujan (worship of weapons) done by RSS on Dussehra. The hearing is on February 15.”

Turning to arrest of left wing activists by state police, Ambedkar said, “The BJP government is trying to suppress the opposition by branding them as anti-nationals. It is tarnishing their good name. In a recent judgment, Supreme Court has said that it was the duty of courts to protect the prestige of individuals. I urge the courts to exercise their power in favour of Anand Teltumbade and his colleagues.”

The BRP-BMS chief said that state police had branded a reputed foreign university — American University of Paris — as a hub of terrorism just because it had invited Teltumbade for a talk.

Ambedkar further said that there was no concrete evidence against Teltumbade being involved in anti-national activities. “Police should instead arrest Sambhaji Bhide and Milind Ekbote,” he added.