Karnataka Bharatiya Janata Party leader KS Eshwarappa on Thursday claimed that Muslims and Christians will associate themselves with the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh in the future, leading to strong objections by the Congress, The Indian Express reported.

Eshwarappa made the comments in the state Assembly in the context of a debate on the law and order situation in Karnataka. Earlier during the debate, Leader of Opposition Siddaramaiah made a reference to the RSS while saying that personal relationships came before political differences.

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To this, Speaker Vishweshwar Hegde Kageri asked the Congress leader why he was “feeling troubled by our RSS”. Congress MLA Zameer Ahmed Khan then questioned why he referred to the Hindutva organisation as “our RSS” while being the Speaker.

Kageri, however, stuck to his remarks and said that “you’ll all say RSS in the coming days”, ANI reported.

Later, Eshwarappa, who is the state rural development minister, criticised the Congress and said that “all Muslims and Christians will also say RSS in the future”. Siddaramaiah, however, criticised the BJP and asserted that he would “never ever be a part of RSS and say its name”.

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State Revenue Minister R Ashoka said that all top political posts in the country were occupied by people from the Hindutva organisation, whether one liked it or not. Congress MLAs, however, said that this was the “country’s misfortune”.

As the acrimonious exchange of words continued, Speaker Kageri later adjourned the Assembly till the afternoon.

This is the second time in recent months that Kageri has defended the RSS in the Karnataka Assembly.

On February 22, Kageri had objected to the Congress shouting anti-RSS slogans in the House, according to Deccan Herald.

“RSS is a nationalist organisation working to unite Hindus,” the Speaker had said. “You should support their activities...If you have political differences, sort them out instead of linking it to the RSS.”