Congress president Rahul Gandhi today accused the Rashtriya Swayamsevak Sangh (RSS) of trying to "capture" every institution in the country, saying it was a "particular ideologue" of the Sangh Parivar outfit who gave the idea of the note ban to the Prime Minister.
"Do you know where the idea of note bandi (note ban) came from? Do you know who gave the idea of note bandi to the Prime Minister of India? It was not RBI, it was not Arun Jaitley (Finance Minister), it was not an officer in the Finance Ministry," he said.
"It was a particular ideologue of the RSS. Now you imagine the RSS places an idea into the Prime Minister's mind and the Prime Minister launches that idea," he said.
Suggesting it was the design of RSS and BJP, who are convinced that it is only they who know everything and are taking such "disastrous" decisions, he said even a child would say it was not a good idea to "destroy" Rs 500 and Rs 1000 notes that allowed corrupt to convert black money into white.
The Congress president was speaking during an interaction with professionals and business community on the last day of his four day 'Janashirvad Yatra', in the northern Karnataka region here.
RSS men planted in each ministry: Rahul
Rahul also alleged that ministers in the NDA government were not operating independently, as RSS men were stationed in each ministry.
"In every single Ministry in India, national level there is an OSD (Officer on Special Duty)from RSS working with the Minister...In every Ministry in India, there is a man from RSS who works with the Minister. The Minister is not operating on his own," he said.
Stating that the Ministers are being guided by RSS on what to do, he said, "The approach is of capture, the approach is here is an institution and let us capture it; as opposed to allowing an institution to serve the people of India and allowing the people of India to capture the institution."
Noting that Congress believes in the idea that institutions should be controlled by people, Rahul said that the job of a political party is to run a political system and not capture or run the institutions and shape them according to their beliefs.
"This is the fundamental conflict we have with BJP. Their idea is wherever they go they plant people with their ideology into that organization," he said adding that Congress' idea is to "democratize" institutions, while BJP believes in "bureaucratizing" them.
During his interaction, Rahul also shared his vision of having many more women MPs and Chief Ministers in the country.
Stating that there are hardly any women in Parliament, Rahul said, "First thing I feel is important and I can do it in the Congress party and I will do it in the Congress party, is to bring more and more ladies into the political system, into the Vidhan Sabha, into the Rajya Sabha."
Rahul thanks Karnataka for 'affection and warmth'
After winding up his four-day campaign in poll-bound Karnataka, Rahul thanked the state for the "warmth and affection" it extended to him during the visit.
Taking to Twitter, Rahul posted a video showing highlights of the campaign 'Jana Ashirwada Yatre', during which he held rallies, interacted with farmers and visited temples and a dargah.
"Thank you Karnataka for your warmth and affection!" he tweeted.
Though the schedule for election in Karnataka is yet to be declared, the campaign for the high-voltage poll has already begun.
The ruling Congress is seeking to retain power in Karnataka, where Assembly polls are due early this year, while the BJP is eyeing to wrest the southern state from it. The Congress had unseated the BJP in Karnataka in 2013. The HD Deve Gowda-led JD(S) is another major party in the contest.
