New Delhi: Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge addressed a press conference on the occasion to mark the 150th birth anniversary of Sardar Patel and the 41st martyrdom day of Smt. Indira Gandhi on October 31, 2025, Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge noted, “Smt. Indira Gandhi sacrificed her life to uphold the unity that Sardar Patel had forged for India.” “While one was the Iron Man, the other was the Iron Lady,” he remarked.

Congress President Shri Mallikarjun Kharge also supported the suggestion for banning the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) in the country for creating law & order problems and disturbing peace in the country.

He was referring to Smt. Indira Gandhi laying down her life to save the unity and integrity of the country and Sardar Patel’s unparalleled contribution to unite and unify India immediately after independence and partition.

“This is the contribution of the Congress and its leaders, that they not only liberated the country, but united and unified it and laid down their lives to save that unity and integrity,” he remarked. The Congress President taunted the BJP and the RSS for trying to appropriate Sardar Patel and his legacy, when he had banned the organisation after the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. In the same context, when he was asked about the suggestion of banning the RSS once again, he said, “It is my personal opinion and I am saying it openly, that a ban should be imposed (on RSS). Because whatever is happening in the country today is a result of the BJP and the RSS activities.”

“You can’t taste the venom to find out whether it is good or bad, you can only die,” he remarked. Congress President extensively cited Sardar Patel’s letters to Syama Prasad Mookerjee and Guru Golwalkar, listing the reasons for banning the RSS. He quoted Sardar Patel saying that the RSS and Hindu Mahasabha had created a venomous atmosphere in the country that led to the assassination of Mahatma Gandhi. He also referred to Sardar Patel mentioning in letters how the RSS celebrated Gandhi’s assassination and even distributed sweets.

Blasting the lies being spread by the RSS and the BJP about differences between Pandit Nehru and Sardar Patel, Kharge Ji quoted various things the two leaders said about each other. He recalled, while Nehru used to say that Patel was an untiring leader who worked for the unity and integrity of the country, Patel used to describe Pandit Nehru as an ideal for the country and the leader of the masses.

Taking a dig at the BJP and the RSS, he taunted, “Those who were behind Gandhi’s killing are today telling us that Congress does not value Patel.” He said, while it was good that the BJP had built a grand statue of Sardar Patel in his memory, it should also remember that it was the Congress, Pandit Jawaharlal Nehru in particular, who had laid the foundation of the Sardar Sarovar Dam that irrigates lakhs of hectares of land.

The Congress President also criticised the attempts of the BJP government to change history by deleting chapters on Mahatma Gandhi, Nathuram Godse, Gujarat riots and other important issues from the NCERT books. “History cannot be wiped out or destroyed,” he remarked, adding that the truth will always remain alive and will not be erased despite all attempts to suppress it. Congress President was accompanied by the Congress General Secretary in-charge of communications, Shri Jairam Ramesh.