New Delhi, March 20 (PTI): The Congress on Wednesday hit back at Prime Minister Narendra Modi over his "dynastic politics" attack on it, saying the PM himself comes from the Sangh Parivar without whose blessings no one in the country can occupy any public position.
The opposition party also said those who hold the "dubious distinction" of decimating all democratic institutions are now lecturing others.
"The BJP-RSS believes in cultural imperialism. They believe in the supremacy of only one power and a monolithic structure of society and of institutions. In the past 5 years, they have sought to demolish the foundations of every single institution in the country," Congress' chief spokesperson Randeep Surjewala said in a statement.
Modi, in a blog, urged people to think wisely before casting their vote, saying from the press to Parliament, from soldiers to free speech, from the Constitution to the courts, "institutional insult is the Congress way".
"India has seen that whenever dynastic politics has been powerful, institutions have taken a severe beating," he said.
Responding to the prime minister's comments, senior Congress leader Kapil Sibal said he should introspect and instead of talking about dynastic politics, should focus on issues confronting the people.
"What is the PM talking about? No one in the BJP can occupy any public position without the support of the RSS (Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh).
"The Sangh Parivar is the biggest parivar in the world. Without their blessings no one can hold any public position in the country, be it the position of a PM, a minister, governor or chief minister," Sibal told PTI.
Sibal asked the prime minister to look within and focus on addressing the issues concerning the country such as farm crisis, joblessness, shortage of drinking water, education, health and pollution challenges.
"Is the PM so busy in the campaign that he has forgotten all about the people of India. He's only worried about dynasty," the former HRD minister said.
Sibal added that there is no one in the BJP, barring a few, who have not come from the RSS background. The prime minister, governors, chief ministers and ministers all belong to the RSS, he claimed.
Surjewala, in his statement, alleged that centralisation of power, concentration of decision-making in the hands of a select few and "opaque clique", instead of accountable people's representatives, are undermining the internal autonomy of every institution of India.
"The BJP-RSS eco-system has usurped key positions in every institution, bereft of merit or suitability," he said.
Prime Minister Modi is "single handedly" responsible for "undermining the institutional integrity" of India, Surjewala said.
"Having become a habitual offender in denigrating institutional autonomy, he is taking refuge in blatant lies through false propaganda blogs," the Congress' spokesperson said.
He also listed examples of the government undermining the institutions such as Parliament, media, Constitution and courts, government bodies and armed forces.
"The Modi government passed controversial laws without legislative scrutiny by Parliament by promulgating ordinances," he alleged.
On alleged undermining of the media, Surjewala claimed that 80 journalists were killed in India under the Modi government in 2018 alone.
He also cited that for the first time in 70 years, four senior-most judges of the Supreme Court had to go to the public to seek justice.
"Two economic advisors stepped down and two RBI governors were unceremoniously removed for standing upto the economic misdemeanours of PM Modi," Surjewala alleged.
