Rahul Gandhi thought black cap I wear was linked to RSS: Maharashtra Guv Koshyari

New Delhi: Maharashtra Governor Bhagat Singh Koshyari on Saturday took a jibe at Congress leader Rahul Gandhi as he recalled that the latter linked the black cap, a traditional headwear from Uttarakhand, worn by Koshyari to the RSS and thought that Hindutva ideologue Veer Savarkar was from the Sangh.

Addressing a book launch event in the national capital, the Maharashtra Governor said that the government will have to deal with the similar situation witnessed in Parliament’s recently concluded monsoon session when people like Rahul Gandhi are leading the opposition.

“Rahul Gandhi asked me (then BJP MP) why do you wear a black cap? I told him people wear it in Uttarakhand. He says ‘no, no, you are from RSS’. I said I am from RSS but the cap is from Uttarakhand. People have been wearing it there before RSS was born,” the former Uttarakhand Chief Minister recalled.

“A few months later, Rahul Gandhi again asked me why you wear a black cap. I asked him have you read anything about RSS? He said ‘yes, yes, I have read Savarkar’, Piyush ji you will have to live with this when such people are in leadership,” he said.

“Though Savarkar is a Hindutva ideologue, he was never in the RSS,” he added.

While Koshyari mocked Rahul Gandhi, he praised Congress leader Jairam Ramesh.

“During a parliamentary debate on the environment, Ramesh, who was the environment minister then, urged the Chair to give me more time to speak as he liked the content,” the Maharashtra Governor recalled.

“When the Chair disallowed the request, forcing me to wrap up his speech, Ramesh came to me and said that he would reply to the debate the next day instead of the same day as scheduled,” he added.