Congress MP Shashi Tharoor extended measured support for senior leader Digvijaya Singh's emphasis on organizational discipline, stating that the party needs greater cohesion and strength, amid a brewing controversy over Singh's praise for the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) and Bharatiya Janata Party (BJP) structures during the Congress's 140th Foundation Day celebrations in Delhi.
Digvijaya Singh triggered widespread debate on December 27, 2025, by posting on X a 1990s black-and-white photograph from a Gujarat event showing a young Narendra Modi seated on the floor at the feet of BJP veteran Lal Krishna Advani, captioning it to highlight the RSS-BJP's grassroots power that elevated a swayamsevak to chief minister and prime minister, while tagging top Congress leaders including Mallikarjun Kharge, Rahul Gandhi, and Priyanka Gandhi Vadra.
Within the Congress, responses highlighted ideological divides, with Sachin Pilot maintaining that the party remains united and individuals hold rights to personal views, whereas Pawan Khera categorically rejected learning from the RSS, associating it with Nathuram Godse and asserting that an organization founded by Mahatma Gandhi has no lessons to take from one linked to his assassin.
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The BJP capitalized on the episode for political attacks, with MP Sudhanshu Trivedi citing a longstanding quote from Barack Obama's 2020 memoir "A Promised Land" describing Rahul Gandhi as possessing a "nervous, uninformed quality" like a student eager to impress but lacking aptitude or passion, framing Singh's remarks as evidence of internal Congress weaknesses.
Facing intense backlash, Digvijaya Singh issued clarifications insisting his comments were misconstrued, praising only organizational discipline while reaffirming staunch opposition to RSS ideology and Prime Minister Modi; this followed his earlier December 19 call for pragmatic decentralization and reforms in the Congress under Rahul Gandhi's leadership to bolster grassroots functioning.
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