THE OPPOSITION on Sunday accused RSS chief Mohan Bhagwat of indulging in doublespeak over his remarks on diversity, even as the BJP hailed him, saying he has shown the world what Hinduism actually means.

Reacting to Bhagwat’s remarks, Congress spokesperson Shama Mohamed said the RSS chief should “stop lying” and alleged that the RSS’s DNA has “hatred and communalism”.

Congress leader Udit Raj said Bhagwat made the statement to placate those protesting against the RSS in New York. “They are two-faced people, they change their colours like a chameleon. Since there were protests against them in New York, they had to try to counter it with such a jumla (rhetoric)…,” he said.

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AIMIM chief Asaduddin Owaisi accused Bhagwat of indulging in “doublespeak” and termed the speech “the oldest trick in the RSS playbook”. “Some words are for the world, and some are for its own members… What do they say about Muslims and other minorities?” “My request to Bhagwat is that he should just recite choice extracts from the poisonous works of Savarkar, Hedgewar, Golwalkar, etc. Let people decide what they make of RSS,” he said.

Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) Sarsanghchalak Mohan Bhagwat speaks at ‘One World, One Humanity’ faith leaders’ conference, in New York, USA, Saturday, Aug. 29, 2026.

Shiv Sena UBT MP Sanjay Raut said the RSS chief needed to make the same statement in India. “This statement and ideology, Bhagwat ji should speak about it in India. Their people who are sitting in power in Delhi, Uttar Pradesh, those in Maharashtra…imported from other parties — he should tell them this…You will say something in New York and in Bharat, when there is a protester against you, you will say something different. This is not called dharma but dhong (drama),” he said.

Rajya Sabha MP Kapil Sibal took a swipe at Bhagwat, saying he was left wondering whether it was Congress leader Rahul Gandhi or the Sangh chief speaking. “You accept diversity abroad; you do not tolerate diversity at home,” said Sibal.

Maharashtra CM Devendra Fadnavis said tolerance is the soul of Hindutva. “Tolerance runs in the blood of Hindus, it is a fundamental aspect of Hindutva… If someone attacks you, there must certainly be a counter-response; however, a Hindu never initiates an attack.”

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Cockroach Janta Party leader Abhijeet Dipke said the BJP thinks it has become bigger than the RSS, but it should pay heed to what the Sangh chief has been saying. With PTI inputs