Bihar Chief Minister Nitish Kumar had reportedly ordered the state police to gather information on the RSS and its 17 subsidiary outfits in the state. On 28 May 2019, the Superintendent of Police (Special Branch), Patna had sent a letter to Deputy SPs (Special Branch) to “collect names, addresses, phone no & professions of the office bearers of RSS & its below mentioned supporting organisations”, residing in their areas “within 1 week”.
Bihar: In a letter dated 28/5/19, Superintendent of Police (Special Branch), Patna directed Deputy SPs (Special Branch) to “collect names,addresses, phone no & professions of the office bearers of RSS & its below mentioned supporting orgs”, residing in their areas “within 1 week” pic.twitter.com/QnfMYAvgRs
— ANI (@ANI) July 16, 2019
The letter directs teh DSPs to gather information on the RSS and its 17 subsidiaries namely: VHP, Bajrang Dal, Hindu Jagaran Samiti, Dharm Jagaran Samanvay Samiti, Hindu Rashtra Sena, Rashtriya Sevika Samiti, Shiksha Bharti, Muslim Rashtriya Manch, Durga Vahini, Swadeshi Jagaran Manch, Bharatiya Kisan Sangh, Bharatiya Mazdoor Sangh, Bharatiya Rail Sangh, ABVP, Akhil Bharatiya Shikshak Mahasangh, Hindu Mahasabha, Hindu Yuva Vahini and the Hindu Putra Sangh.
Reportedly, the Special Branch is tasked with confidentially briefing the chief minister. It is not clear whether the DSPs have already submitted their reports.
KC Tyagi, national secretary-general of JD(U), said that this was a routine issue. He said that such an exercise would be conducted by the intelligence wing from time to time. He also said that the government does not intend to target any organisation.
A senior RSS leader has said that some of the names mentioned in the letter did not even exist. “This indicates how the intelligence wing of the state police functions in the state,” he said, adding that altogether 37 subsidiary organisations of the RSS are active across the country.
The letter was reportedly written five days after the 2019 Lok Sabha results were announced in which the BJP led NDA was re-elected with an astounding majority.
In May, just before the swearing-in ceremony was about to begin at the Rashtrapati Bhawan, Nitish Kumar had announced that it won’t be joining the cabinet of the Modi government. JDU chief Nitish Kumar said that inclusion of just 1 JDU MP in the cabinet would have meant symbolic participation and that he has informed the BJP that they don’t need it.
